Tom Rolt on the Shropshire Union

I’ve just finished reading the classic and legendary book ‘Narrow Boat’ by LTC Rolt. It was first published in 1944 and is believed to have a played a key part in the revival of the waterways as a leisure resource. He and his wife Angela fitted out the boat and then travelled the waterways enjoying the timeless nature of the English countryside.

As Tom travels he rejoices in finding rural remnants of times gone by, anddeplores the sometimes ugly face of ‘progress’. Nostalgically at Nantwich he notes that the atmosphere of an old market town, catering soley for the needs of an agricultural area is preserved.

“The countrymen of Cheshire do not live out of tins and refuse to accept inferior imported foods. To ask a Nantwich butcher for foreign meat would constitute a personal insult, and during our stay in Cheshire we had home-killed joints that in their tenderness and flavour rivalled the famous roasts of Simpsons in the Strand.”

Here Tom and Angela enjoyed chorley cakes, pikelets, local oatcakes and Cheshire cheese. At that time Audlem was a “sleepy group of old houses, inns and shops clustering about a church perched upon a mound.”

They made light work of the Audlem flight, and enjoyed the rolling wooded country at the summit. They soon arrived at ‘Dirty Fair’ in Market Drayton and this is one of my favourite parts of the book. Tom describes the cattle market and gypsies in lyrical detail and tells a charming anecdote of horse trading, featuring a “plausible rogue”; a “picturesque characterful figure.”

I wonder if The Wharf Inn at Goldstone Common is still there with a cheerful fire blazing in the bar parlour? I’d like to travel the densely wooded cuttings of the Shropshire Union which even then was “uncommonly well supplied” with canal side inns.  The Wrekin dominates the landscape here; part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Shropshire Canal terminates at  Autherley stop lock and the working boatmen used to call this ‘Cut End’. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal down to Stourport was commonly known as the ‘Stour Cut’.

If you haven’t yet read this book it would be the perfect companion to take on the Canal Voyagers Stourport to Nantwich cruise. From Autherley to Nantwich Taurus and Snipe will be retracing the waterways cruised by Tom and Angela in 1939 and you can see for yourself what’s changed and what hasn’t. The Staffs & Worcester is Corinne’s favourite canal and The Shropshire Union is one of Neil’s favourites. Take your camera, because the views are amazing!

Find out more and check availability. Stourport to Nantwich cruise

Peggy Melmoth

www.peggymelmoth.wordpress.com

The Highs and Lows of the Tring Summit

In Hertfordshire the Tring Summit level is currently closed from Lock 39 Startops Reservoir to lock 49 at Northchurch. The canal is fed by local reservoirs built for the purpose and a lack of rain this year has led to a severe water shortage. The water level has dropped by at least twelve inches. Moored boats were asked to vacate the pound and BW announced that 2011 was the driest year for the south east since records began. The Aylesbury Arm was already closed to traffic.

 The ground in the Tring cutting has historically always been very wet, and so was not sealed with clay when the cut was first built. The recent dry weather has now allowed the surrounding ground to dry out, the water table has dropped and the canal water has begun to leak out. It is hoped that enough water can be conserved over the next few weeks to enable cruising to commence at the start of the boating season.

 The Tring summit is about 400 feet above sea level and each time a boat descends through a lock about 50,000 gallons of water are lost to the lower level(1). Originally the Grand Junction Canal was to be fed by a feeder from springs in Wendover to Bulbourne, near Tring. An Act of Parliament in 1794 authorised this to be a navigable waterway, and so the Wendover arm was created. However, it was a struggle to maintain the water levels and so a series of pumps and reservoirs were built at Wilstone, Marsworth, Tringford and Startopsend.  Five years after its completion the Wendover arm began leaking and eventually began taking water from the summit. The working boatmen began to refer to it as “the withered arm” and in 1901 it was closed to navigation. The Wendover Arm Trust is a charity that continues to rebuild the Wendover Arm using donations and volunteer labour; raising money annually with their popular canal festival.

 Today the Marsworth flight, the reservoirs, the hamlet of Bulbourne, the Wendover Arm, and the tree-lined Tring cutting is a most beautiful stretch of canal attracting wildlife, walkers and fishermen. The disused lock gate making workshops at Bulbourne are a fascinating piece of canal history, the Grand Junction Arms is an original boaters pub and the views across the reservoirs are simply stunning – even now when they are half empty and half frozen.

 Book early to join Snipe and Taurus in July of this year and enjoy this breath-taking cruise that concludes by arriving in London for the Olympics. 

Leighton Buzzard to Little Venice cruise details.

Peggy Melmoth

www.peggymelmoth.wordpress.com

1. The Canal: Tring to Rickmansworth, In Camera. Peter Ward and Ray Lacey. Published by Quotes Limited, Buckingham.
   

   Sunshine at Tringford Reservoir

 

Now recruiting

Want to work on a hotel boat, cruising the English canals? We are recruiting crew for this summer, our 2012 season.

Snipe and Taurus are two 70ft x 7ft traditional narrowboats which work together offering cruises on the canals and rivers of England and Wales and accommodate up to 8 guests per week. We require crew to join us - owner-operators Corinne and Neil. It is important that you have willingness to learn new and interesting skills, whilst having lots of fun! If you are looking for a way to travel, work and experience something completely new, then this may be the job for you.

We are a family business and while the job is sometimes very hard work, it is also a lot of fun – what better way to work and travel around the country? We meet wonderful friendly people amongst our passengers and other boaters, and we get to visit some of the most beautiful parts of the country.

We ideally employ at least one member of crew for the full season (mid-April until mid-October), however if you are at college/university until mid june (for example), we will still consider you. However, please consider your application seriously, as it’s not one of those jobs that are ‘fun for just a month’. This is a live-in position and all your meals are included. We cannot offer shared accommodation, however if you are a couple and do not consider this to be a problem, we would welcome your application. You will live and work on the boats full-time and will therefore travel throughout the country. There aren’t many jobs that offer you a different destination every time you get a day off!

Quote from one of our former crew:

Working on Snipe and Taurus was simultaneously the busiest and most relaxed I’ve ever been. The work is neverending and you’ll find yourself doing fourteen-hour days without even noticing – luckily there’s always a pub nearby where you can relax afterwards! You’ll learn a boatload (excuse the pun) of new skills, or maybe just hone the ones you already have; either way Corinne and Neil are enthusiastic and patient teachers.

It can be hard sometimes, like all jobs, but the beautiful sights and interesting people you meet along the way make it all worthwhile. It’s a combination of cooking, chambermaiding and physical labour. An odd mix, maybe, but I found it so fulfilling that I insisted on going to work on my friend’s boat the following year! You have to be good with people, not mind a bit of rain, and enjoy cake. As I recall, those are the only rules…if it sounds like it might be your cup of tea, it probably is.

Please also note, as we work very closely with all crew we prefer to interview applicants, so you must be prepared to attend an interview with possible travel involved to Warwick to see the boats.

Duties vary each day, which for the adventurous makes the job more appealing as there are opportunities to learn new skills. Essential qualities we look for are that you are physically fit and enjoy life outdoors, in all weathers. Daily tasks include kitchen duties (vegetable preparation, making a cake or dessert) and housekeeping (making the beds and occasionally cleaning the toilets!). If you are fit, active and enthusiastic, experience is not an issue as training for all aspects will be provided. We can also assist you if you are interested in obtaining a Boat Masters licence, as a lot of the boat handling skills that you will learn with us can contribute to the completion of your log-book.

To apply, email us a CV to info@canalvoyagers.com or visit our facebook fan page at http://t.co/1vk2ybu8 and send us your details.