England 2025

I landed at London Heathrow on Tuesday afternoon, and met with Alec, my eldest son, at the restaurant July for an Alsace evening. The next day I caught the train from Kings Cross to Leeds, and onwards to New Pudsey to stay the night with Elliot, my youngest son, for a Wetherspoons and football evening. Then on Thursday I took a train to Skipton via Leeds to meet good friend, Catherine on her narrowboat, Philia to begin an adventure of cruising down to London or Devizes, or both!

Our first day took us through 13 swing bridges and 10 miles through the best Yorkshire could offer from Skipton to Keighley along the Liverpool – Leeds canal.

Our next stop, Saltaire has a fabulous history as wealthy business owner and benefactor, Sir Titus Salt, appalled by the conditions his employees lived in nearby Bradford, built a new town where the employees of his mills could enjoy free access to water and toilets. Although the mills closed many years ago, Saltaire is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site attracting national and international visitors.

The following day we passed through the famous five rise and three rise locks at Bingley. This system of locks, run by enthusiastic volunteers, is a masterpiece of engineering which opened in 1774.

During an overnight stop at Apperley Bridge we discovered that our journey to Leeds would be temporarily halted because of repair work in a lock just outside Leeds. So we had a short and slow few hours of gentle passage making to Rodley where we needed to wait at least three days before continuing to Leeds. So we met Elliot for a beer at the Rodley Barge, which is near to his house in Pudsey, and planned a day trip to Harrogate.

Harrogate was a fabulous day trip. It’s probably around 40 years since I last visited this once Victorian spa town, and a few days later we took the train out to York for a day. York really is a wonderful city steeped in a history to rival any other UK city, and it now has a modern and thoroughly enjoyable Cat Hunt…a city walk to find figures of cats on local buildings. It was Easter Saturday in glorious sunshine, and therefore extremely busy by mid afternoon.

We had previously moved the boat closer to the lock under repair to be ready to cruise to Leeds at a moments notice. However, during that short passage from Rodley to Horsforth we had to negotiate the most ridiculously complicated swing bridge ever in the 7 days of my life on the UK canals!

The photograph above is a section of the Liverpool – Leeds canal between Rodley and Horsforth.

We finally reached Leeds, and moored in Granary Wharf.

Early in our journey from Skipton we agreed a price for me to purchase Philia, but there was absolutely no progress in making that transfer of ownership by the time we reached Leeds, and I felt uncomfortable in an “atmosphere” that was developing…so I left the boat, and went to Hull to use as a base for searching for a narrow boat to buy.

I booked a month in an ex-AirBnb and began an online search for my “dream boat” which was eventually reduced to five boats. However, the first boat I viewed in a marina near Leeds matched my simple requirements. So I made an offer which was accepted the following day, my 71st birthday, which I was celebrating with my youngest son, Elliot in Leeds. I’m now in the process of working with the sellers broker to finalise the purchase while I organise the cruising license and insurance and some formal training and whatever else I need to continue my journey south…on my own narrow boat!

 It is now mid-May and there’s been no progress in purchasing the narrow boat, primarily because the seller is trying to abdicate his responsibilities… so I wrote to the broker at Aquavista to threaten pulling out of the deal and having my deposit returned because the seller was ignoring the Purchasing Agreement which was signed by both of us. Consequently, it seems that the process is back on track albeit with a likely completion of mid-June rather than the end of May as I had been hoping for.

In the meantime I have booked a weekend at Crick boat show in May, and short courses in helming narrow boats and diesel engine maintenance in June.

Progress doesn’t always take its natural course. I eventually pulled out of the purchase of NB Unbelievable, but within days I found NB Alice Springs listed, and travelled to Lichfield on the train that very day to view it. The seller, Roger, picked me up from the train station, gave me a comprehensive viewing, made me a cup of tea and then took me back to the train station…in a complete contrast to the utterly dismal owner of NB Unbelievable. I have organised a survey on Alice Springs for 3rd June.

I have just returned from a fabulous weekend of camping at the Crick Boat Show. While it was extremely cold over both nights camping in my new pop-up tent I visited many stands to talk about a variety of canal subjects, attended a presentation on Boat Maintenance, joined the Inland Waterways Association, met “TV & internet star” Emma Culshaw Bell and bought her new book, watched Dan Budd as Robbie Williams on Sunday night and met some fabulous people as I wandered around the show and watched the evening entertainment. I shall certainly plan more visits over the next few years!

I booked two nights in a fabulous Airbnb in Lichfield, visited Wetherspoons Acorn Inn and went to see Alice as she was lifted out of the water for the survey. The survey was OK although a few small jobs were highlighted which I was able to negotiate a slight price reduction to proceed quickly….which we did! Within the following four days I paid the balance owing, hired a car for three weeks, left Hull, picked up my two travel bags from Elliot, drove to Lichfield and became the official owner of narrowboat Alice Springs on 7th June 2025!

I’m now in the midst of cruising Tesco Extra and the charity shops of Lichfield to buy everything I need on the boat from bedding, cutlery and a toolkit. I have also organised boat insurance and my Canal & River Trust licence. Somewhere in the middle of that I watched the best French Tennis Open final EVER, as Carlos Alcaraz overcame Jannik Sinner in a fifth set tiebreaker!

The boys and I have agreed on a Boys Weekend on Alice in Birmingham in July, and in the meantime I will continue to set up the boat and to work through some of the jobs I’d like to do and participate in an RYA Helmsman course and a Diesel Engine Maintenance course later this month.

Having met an old work colleague, Malcolm Cousins on Monday, I was busy planning to meet David and Lindsey Green for lunch on their narrowboat in Birmingham on Tuesday and then I would drive to Kinver for the Helmsman course. BUT, just as I arrived at Cuckoo Wharf, our rendezvous, David and Lindsey decided to not stop for lunch because they had heard about a canal closure later that afternoon. So I decided to drive across to Kinver to visit the famous cave houses…only to find the roads in Kinver in total disarray through roadworks which barred the way to the caves! Thankfully, the narrowboat Airbnb, The Rambler, my accommodation for two nights, was fabulous.

The photograph above was taken on my early morning run along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal.
I was joined on the course by John & Miranda, and it turned out to be a fabulous two days experience.

The photograph above is Kinver Boat School owner and instructor, Sofia with her trademark orange hair, and fellow learners, Miranda & John.

The weather was beautiful, if not too hot by mid afternoon, the scenery along the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal was spectacular, The Vine Inn was the perfect place to quench a thirst at the end of a day and Sofia was a wonderful instructor.

The above photograph is me helming, Miranda as my crew and our instructor, Sofia.
So, I’m now a happy and qualified RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman. Early this morning, just two days later, I ventured alone from my mooring in Kings Bromley to the Facilities Dock for diesel and a pump out….the adventure begins!

In between courses I was continuing to cruise the charity shops of Lichfield and also picked up a new Dahon Vybe D7 folding bicycle…it’s all coming together!

Although brief, friends David & Lindsey stopped at the marina for a quick look at Alice Springs while on their way north to Manchester Airport for return flights to the USA…all’s well that ends well.

The following week I attended a two-day Diesel Engine Maintenance course hosted by River Canal Rescue in nearby Stafford, so I was able to commute between the boat and the course. Although I have been maintaining a variety of motorised vehicles such as motorcycles, cars and the recently sold sailing yacht, on and off for 50+ years I was in a steep learning curve and learned much more than just engine maintenance. There were seven of us attending the course, and the experience was fabulous. I also booked a one-on-one engine service with the RCR instructor for the following week. I serviced the engine and checked other systems, such as the batteries, gearbox and drive shaft seal under guidance. I now have a list of the spares to carry for a service, and the tools I need to buy….my old toolkit, built up over 50+ years, was left in Guatemala!

Then finally, after three weeks, I returned the hire car back to Birmingham Airport and took the opportunity to visit the Gas Street Basin in Birmingham where I will meet the boys for our weekend. My fears of not being able to find a mooring were completely unfounded. It’s a fabulous area with a variety of mooring opportunities. I now realise that I have planned far too much time for the passage to Birmingham…so I can relax a little!

The above sunrise photograph in Kings Bromley marina had to be taken so early morning that I went back to bed feeling happy with the final photograph!

As always, I have a list of tasks I want to complete before I leave and with more time available I booked a few more days in the marina. I have visited Rugeley and The Swan pub along the towpath by bicycle, and also cycled to the Friary Grange leisure centre for an early morning swim session. Together with some morning runs and yoga my fitness is returning!

Today, Wednesday 10th July is the Buck Full Moon, and I plan to leave Kings Bromley on Saturday….and I did! It was a calm, warm and sunny morning as I left the marina at 7:30am, and headed down the Trent & Mersey Canal towards The Swan pub at Fradley Junction at just tickover speed to be extremely careful on my first solo passage on Alice Springs. At the first of three locks, Woodend Lock two other boats coming up the lock operated it for me, and at the next locks there was a CRT (Canal & River Trust) volunteer who operated both locks for me. He also advised me that the moorings in front of the pub were private so at the pub I turned right at Fradley Junction onto the Coventry Canal, and moored alongside many other boats. 

The photograph above is Shadehouse Lock, the second lock operated by the CRT volunteer.

That evening I met old school friend, Jeremy Cragg and his wife of 51 years (!), Alison to sit in the midsummer sunshine reminiscing about our lives since leaving Bramcote Hills Technical Grammar school 55 years ago.

The following day I left the mooring early morning to head down the Coventry Canal, a sometimes narrow but always pretty canal. As it was a Sunday there were a few fun-fueled day hire boats on the canal which is something to remember for the future, as they tended to be erratic!

By the time I reached Fazeley Junction I had been on the move for over five hours, so soon after turning onto the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal I moored up alongside the towpath. I cycled into Fazeley and spent a few hours following Sinner beat Alcaraz in the men’s Wimbledon final and Chelsea’s amazing 3-0 defeat of PSG to win the Club World Cup final.

My third day began well as I began the Curdworth Locks, a flight of 11 locks, but at Lock 6 a narrowboat had run aground trying to leave the lock. This began a crazy sequence of events caused by someone leaving a ground paddle open which had almost drained the pound between Lock 6 and Lock 5. After a conversation with the CRT (and the skipper’s experienced father) we were told we had to release water through the higher locks to refill the flight. This took us 4 hours to get their boat up to, and through, Lock 2 and ultimately out of trouble. I waved goodbye to the three girls and headed down the flight, where I encountered Steve & Wendy on NB Visage who were also struggling with the shallow water. So I assisted them up to Lock 2 while we released even more water into the flight. I decided to stay overnight and cycled down to the Dog & Doublet pub to recover. Although I had lost an afternoon of my passage plan, I had learned so much about lock flights. 
I had planned to rest on Tuesday, the fourth day of my passage to Birmingham because of heavy rain forecast. But early morning I cycled up the flight to check water levels and met Steve & Wendy who were stuck in the lock gates at Lock 2! We managed to free the boat and I stayed with them through the flight to Lock 6 where I was moored. It had started to rain as we arrived at Alice Springs and I was glad to have decided to rest today…and especially as Wendy gave me a slice of Lemon Drizzle Cake to have with a mug of hot tea while they continued on to Lock 11. Phew!

Thankfully, the Curdworth lock flight is now full of water for my continuing passage to Birmingham tomorrow.

But, and a very big but, I woke at 4:30am and sneaked out to take some pre-sunrise photographs, and saw that the water was low yet again. Dismayed, I went back to bed to edit and post photographs to social media. Eventually I did get dressed and cycled up the flight to Lock 1 yet again. At the top I met Michael & Sindy on narrowboat Tumbleweed, and explained the problems. Later, two hire boats with Norwegians aboard arrived at Lock 1, and between us we refilled the flight, and as the third boat passed Alice Springs at Lock 7 I entered the lock and made it through the top lock by the end of the afternoon, and moored up for the night.

The photograph above was taken just below Lock 7 at around 4:30am.
The next day, Thursday, I contacted the Canal & River Trust to explain my confusion over the fact that three boats had come through the Minworth Locks and continued to Curdworth despite the CRT website stating that the Minworth flight was closed. The lady confirmed that the locks weren’t physically locked but the notification of Closure would remain until Friday next week! This left me very unsure what to do because Minworth isn’t a place to get stuck. So on Friday I decided to cycle up to Minworth to check the situation, and met the girls from Monday who were on their way back. They confirmed all was well. So I cycled back to Curdworth and prepared Alice for a passage through Minworth Locks.

The passage through the locks was absolutely fine, but I did get stuck after the locks where a tree had fallen. After sawing through some branches and using the barge pole I was able to pass the fallen tree, and made it to Salford Junction where I turned to moor the boat at Cuckoo Wharf by early evening…I was in Birmingham, but with a tough day of 24 locks going up to Cambrian Wharf with an awful weather forecast.

On Saturday morning I left Cuckoo Wharf at 8am in constant rain to proceed up the Aston Flight of 11 locks. I made steady progress as the rainfall increased, as I left the final lock I was soaked and ready for a rest, a change of clothes and some lunch. I had thoughts of leaving the Farmers Bridge Flight of 13 locks until the next day, but I noticed that the rain was easing…so I continued. By the time I reached the 24th lock of the day, at about 5:30pm, the sun was shining and I was through to my destination exactly one week after leaving Kings Bromley marina.

The photograph above is Deep Cuttings Junction near to Gas Street Basin.
I stopped at a CRT water point to fill the tank and motored on to moor on the Birmingham Line Canal alongside the towpath using mooring pins for the first time…which was the beginning of another (mis)adventure!

As I looked out of the window I realised that the bow had drifted away from the canal side, and I’d lost two mooring pins in the process! I resolved that situation myself, but still not very well, and the next day I returned to the boat to find it had been moved. A fellow boater noticed that Alice had again drifted away, and I had lost a third mooring pin. So he moved Alice so I could use one of the fixed canal side mooring rings and my final lonely mooring pin. I thanked the guy, although it took us a couple of days to recognise each other…he recognised me when I walked past his boat with two new mooring pins in my hand! 

On the Tuesday I jumped on a train to Rugby to meet Lynn, who had finally bought narrowboat Unbelievable after I had pulled out many weeks ago. She picked me up at the station and we went to Dunchurch Pools marina where her boat had been delivered by road. We organised ourselves and the boat, and then set off along the Grand Union canal to reach her new permanent mooring at Wigrams Turn marina. It was a fabulous afternoon of cruising while the weather behaved itself rather than follow the dismal forecast for the day. Lynn was happy to helm along the way in her first canal boat, and once Unbelievable was moored safely we went to dinner in an Indian restaurant as Lynn’s treat to me. It was great for me to see Unbelievable again and to accept some responsibility in helming another boat after my relatively short baptism into canal life. In reality, it was a great day for both of us. Lynn then took me back to Rugby train station for the trip back to Birmingham.

The photograph above is Lynn and I on NB Unbelievable on the Grand Union Canal.

I’ve had a much needed restful few days in readiness for the all important Boys Weekend, which begins tomorrow.

For the first time son in law, Paul joined us for the Boy’s Weekend and they stayed in a nearby hotel while Elliot stayed on the boat with me.

Friday night was an easy evening around Gas Street Basin and a chance to take the photograph below.

Saturday was a busy day beginning with a full English Breakfast at Box to watch the British & Irish Lions rugby union team beat Australia and thereby win the test series. We visited the Library of Birmingham and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to see the Ozzy Osbourne exhibition followed by a long walk to Digbeth to see the Red Brick Market, the Ruin pub and The Custard Factory. Finally we took an Uber to the fabulous Shababs Indian restaurant and then finished the day at our favourite Canalside pub in Gas Street Basin.

Sunday started with an Uber Eats breakfast on the boat so Alec & Paul could visit Alice Springs for the first time. We then wandered into the city centre for Alec & Paul’s midday train back to London. Elliot & I found The Railway pub to watch a rain-affected Belgian F1 Grand Prix, although Elliot had to miss the end of the race to catch his train back to Pudsey. I decided to stay at The Railway to watch the Lionesses football team beat Spain on penalties to win Euro 2025! What an awesome weekend of sport and Boy’s Weekend frivolities!

Next weekend will be the World Yoga Festival in Henley-on-Thames….

…which was simply fabulous! I camped for four nights and attended a variety of classes over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The atmosphere was beautiful, everyone just enjoyed each others company and I’ve already booked for next year’s tenth anniversary…I just need a warmer sleeping bag and a camping mattress.

I then took the train to Guildford to stay with travel friend, Jenny, who I first met in Belize while she was backpacking around Central America in 2023. Jenny was the perfect travel guide taking me around some delightful locations in this area of Surrey, and in particular along the Wey Navigation, as we discussed our individual travel plans for this year and next.

However, back to real life on the canals it is becoming increasingly difficult to enjoy total freedom to navigate where we please because of the drought conditions leading to some sections of the canal system being closed. It is now mid-August and next week the Canal & River Trust is likely to announce more closures. So I’m hoping to be able to book a winter mooring close to Birmingham in September.

Karen & Alastair were neighbours in Cotgrave, near Nottingham, in the days we were young, married, child-free couples. We maintained contact soon after welcoming our newborn sons, and I guess we lost contact when we went to Brazil and they moved back to Solihull, and that was about 30 years ago! So it was fantastic to take the train down to Worcester to stay with them in their hilltop home, Humble Bee, in Bromyard. The view of Herefordshire from Humble Bee is seen below.While I was treated to 5-star hospitality we hardly paused for breath while catching up on life’s ups & downs, and the pleasures of a long term friendship….and we even have a vague plan for meeting again in spring 2026!

During all the excitement of the past couple of weeks I have organised a winter mooring and a lift out for annual maintenance for Alice in Alvechurch, a few miles south of Birmingham. Next month, September, I will move Alice to Alvechurch and focus more time on Vaccinations & Visas for my winter trip to Africa.

It’s September 2025, and my short, but sweet cruising season is swiftly coming to an end! But first, new friend, Tracey, who I met at the World Yoga Festival last month, came to stay with me & Alice. The weather was kind to us as we went on a short passage down the Worcester & Birmingham, wandered around some of the sights of Birmingham and enjoyed the delights of a gin distillery….a friendship that perfectly sums up 2025 for me!

It’s now mid-September and I’m in Alvechurch, and Alice is lifted out of the water for a week of annual maintenance. The passage down the Worcester & Birmingham canal to Alvechurch was fabulous, as I had chosen a sunny day for passing by Cadbury’s Bournville, King’s Norton Junction with the Grand Union canal and finally passing through the Wast Hills Tunnel, 1.5 miles long and built in 1796(!). It took about 50 minutes to pass through the tunnel which is just wide enough for two narrowboats…luckily, as I passed a hire boat at a crawl in the dark!

The sunset photograph below was taken through the swan hatch on my first evening in Alvechurch.

Alice has had her hull jet washed and re-blacked with two coats of bitumen. All six anodes were replaced, although the originals were left in place to erode first. The tunnel bands were repainted and a repair was completed on the rudder skeg. While this work was being done while Alice was out of the water at Alvechurch Marina, I cleaned and checked the bilge pump. Then Alice was lifted back into the water and I then motored the short distance to Withybed Moorings where Alice will stayed for the winter. The photograph below was our first sunrise taken in Withybed Moorings 

While I have been preparing to leave Alice for the winter, I have been preparing for my backpacking trip to Africa…vaccinations are almost complete, currencies have been ordered, visas are being organised and the flight to South Africa is booked. The “vague plan” is coming to fruition!

It’s now October, and the Harvest Moon. I have completed my vaccinations, my four visas are being processed, I have the currencies I ordered from Tui and I have posted my online tax return which resulted in an immediate reply from HMRC that I’m entitled to a tax refund…so I have treated myself to a DJI Osmo 360 action camera. I have been struggling to make any sense of creating YouTube videos while on the narrowboat and using the GoPro. Trying to focus on helming and focus on videoing meant that I just wasn’t focusing on either. So I’m hoping that the 360° view of the Osmo allows me to create a half decent video. So I will spend a few days learning the basics and then take the Osmo to Africa. In the meantime, Tracey, who visited me & Alice in September will visit us again before I fly to South Africa.

For a long time I’ve wanted to attend a literary festival but I’ve tended to be overseas during the literary season, except now! I found the Birmingham Literature Festival advertised on social media, and booked an Audience with Jo Bell, author of Boaters, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. It was a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday afternoon listening to Jo’s interview, buying a signed copy of the hardcover and chatting to other people in the audience.

The following, and my final weekend in the UK, Tracey came to stay with me & Alice. We visited the Library of Birmingham and the Jewelery Quarter before a great final day at the Birmingham Literature Festival.

I then had two days to do some laundry, bag packing and boat winterisation…it’s really slightly daunting to leave Alice through the winter!

I had booked train tickets from Alvechurch to Birmingham to Euston, but as I was leaving Alice, friend and fellow boater offered to take me to Birmingham in his work van. Not only was this a friendly gesture but probably saved my journey because the train from Alvechurch was cancelled!

I eventually boarded my British Airways flight to Johannesburg…