Hey there. I’ve been watching nb vlogs for the last year or so. I’ve subscribed to a fair few and remained with most. Some I’ve left and some I’ve only paused on. I’ve just subscribed to your vlog. The chemistry between the two of you is lovely. You work very well together. I like following your conversations which are informative and fun. The filming is good and your music well chosen. Thank you ❤
You keep us going! keep the vlogs coming. Alrewas was a beautiful village. We moored up there for a few hours. You are bringing back lovely memories Thank you M and J and G xxxxx
Canal Time has no meaning when chatting..you know the rules lol, the locks on the trent and Mersey up near me have very handy little footbridges across the bottom set of gates so you don't have to walk all the way around.. also handy for pulling a boat out of the lock by the bow rope when single handing... slimy lock ladders don't interest me after a slight dip. very nice of George to drop off a gift as he visited a fan :-)
So nice, almost a full year living aboard the narrowboat! Congratulations you two!! We truly enjoy watching your vlogs! Hope to visit England some day. Cheers!!
Hi guys Another great vlog. Michael I really enjoy watching your interest in English history. I would love to visit all those places and more one day. Keep em coming mate. Thanks you both.
We must have just missed you as we spent Monday night at Fradley Jcn and did this cruise back to front yesterday. Thanks to your previous vlog we’ve also added Tamworth Castle to our itinerary on our journey south.
We really enjoy your videos and had been keeping an eye out to give yous a wave as we’ve been moored by the pub at Fradley this week, must have missed yous this time!
See George run! See Jo run! See Micheal run... aground... Lol. STOP saying things I'll have to edit out! Love it. On a side note, Tabasco finds its way into much of my cooking even peanut butter cookies - you don't taste the famous Tabasco flavor, you get a little heat at the end which is delish! In the early 90's I was invited to Avery Island to do a dinner for the McIlhenny family and had a tour. One of the most gorgeous places to work and the nicest folks you could ever meet. It's lovely grounds have enormous 100+ yr old oaks with Spanish moss draping and swinging in any breeze that catches it. Beautiful animals roaming their property and a salt mine. As for the ZZTop comment below, ROCK ON MICHAEL! The absolute only person who has a say in how we look is ourselves. How arrogant. Maybe now is the place where Jo says stop saying things I have to cut out 🙃 Take care Y'all and I'm going to keep enjoying the journey with you!
We actually stopped by Avery Island on our first road trip together... bit out of the way, but we got one of their souvenir bottle caps and a taste of Tabasco Ice Cream!! M
As you're on the Trent & Mersey, you will pass our builders, JD Narrowboats of Shardlow on your way to Nottingham. It maybe worth a stopover to checkout bespoke narrowboat building, proper. From shell build to fitout, all under one roof. Andy and Darron are true gentlemen. And funny to boot! There are also 3 decent canalside hostelries. Excellent beer. Good food.
Missed you by a couple of days... we are moored at Hunts lock - last lock as you leave fradley, I also think you had a shot of our first boat just as you left the Sainsburys moorings. Happy travels
lol... For years I've been doing that punny thing you did with "I'll be Bach" in the Terminator voice but I follow it up with "But not Beethoven" also in the Terminator/Arnold. I don't know if I came up with it or picked it up from somewhere. It's one of my favorite puntastic things to do.
Loving the vlogs, top banter, love abounds. Note: Tabasco is a must with Bbeans, otherwise what's the point....Born in Newcastle, English thro and thro, but always open to the continental ways + American.....possible nerve touch there apologies...
Very much loving this life. Basically our plan remains to keep going until we run too low on money and have to take jobs, or we're forced to by other life events, or we run out of canal! We're both really enjoying the life afloat, so hopefully we find the right way to keep doing it! M
Thank you for answering what they were growing in those poly-tunnels. I've went past there easter weekend and thought it might be strawberries with Staffordshire being a big strawberry growing area. Any plans to head over to the North West?
I wouldn't have had an answer if the fellow hiding in his boat hadn't popped up and answered by random rhetorical question (and scared the bejesus out of me, for that matter), but glad I could middle-man! And yes, though somewhat vague plans... we hope to go everywhere, it's just a matter of finding out precisely when! M
Leaving 2.5 hours later than planned.... is that not the whole idea of "canal time" ? While we are on the subject of canal time; plans? what are they? Best wishes
Sorry for the distraction. Looks like George was in the dog house for a lot of the trip. Safe travels. Where you moored near the polly tunnels you were on the Birmingham & Fazely Canal (Coventry section). It was built by the B&F and the Trent & Mersey Canal companies from Fazeley to Fradley due to their frustration with the lack of progress by the Coventry Canal co. Later the Coventry.canal bought the northern section from Whittington to Fradley. Hence the Coventry Canal (Detached portion). You notice the change when cruising as the bridges go from named (B&F) to numbered (Coventry).
We did notice the change, but good to know the historical reason... and yes, he's still in the dog house. Though, as far as we can tell, we're in there with him! M
To go into neutral you just sift into the middle of the arc of the controller, to lock it in neutral you have to pull it out... newer models have a safety switch to keep it from accidentally disengaging, but ours does not. M
Officially, it's the Coventry Canal all the way from Coventry to Fradley Junction, but the Coventry Canal Company ran out of money on the first section to Fazeley, and it was the Trent & Mersey and Birmingham & Fazeley companies that built the section from Fazeley to Fradley Junction, which the Coventry Canal Company later bought back.
We cheated somewhat by getting George, I'm afraid. We also were lucky to have this narrow focus in a niche topic, which made it much easier to break in because there's this ready-built audience of narrowboat and canal enthusiasts, and UA-cam started suggesting ours alongside others in the same topic pretty early. But we think George is what clinched it! M
Great video, but to loud music. Please if you can turn down the volume of the music next time, i would be over the moon. I verry mutch like all your video's and hope you dont take it personally about my complaint about the music :) Oh, and George is just showing who's boss on the towpath :D Greetings from Holland,, Kitty.
Rhubarb makes a noise when it grows. Up in the rhubarb triangle by Wakefield where they grow rhubarb in dark rooms you can hear the plants creaking as they grow and popping as the leaf buds burst. Asparagus grows at a similar rate so probably makes an audible noise. ua-cam.com/video/P2NMffyX2yw/v-deo.html
I bloody well hate it when Ella finds an impossible gap in a fence/wall/building and can't find the way back out. I once had to hedge hop, throw 38kg of (previous) GSD over the top and then essentially ran out of steam and pretty much fell through a bramble infested 4 feet of hell and stinging nettles. Dog was of course utterly fine and had no clue as to why I was no longer his happy owner. The current one is daft enough to find electric fences and smart enough not to try crossing them again to get back to me. Guess who ends up getting electrocuted... I need my head examined. Anyway... Smashingly banterful episode. J is lucky I'm not talking with M as most of it would be edited out!
It's ok they're not flashbacks it's just the angry pixies making a permanent etch on your engrams that overheat when you give the old temporal lobe too much of a prod!
you are getting to look more and more like a band member from zztop or from US zee Zee top. Not for lovely Wife or my buddy George .. thank you for a delightful vlog ... just saying and a thought
Sometimes it’s a wonder we get anything filmed what with driving the boat operating the locks, chatting to everyone we meet and keeping and eye on a sometimes naughty George. Not sure he would make a good helmsman, we may have better luck training him as camera dog! J
Stop that, putting things in baked beans, that's like my sister, she even put sprigs of parsley in it once, I nearly choked on a big bush sized peace of it. I must admit I'm not very keen on spices, except pepper on cabbage, that works.
Haha! Michael thought I was mad when I first told him about Beans on Toast and now he loves them. Although he does insist on adding Tabasco or cheese! Jo
The memory replay was awesome. Do more. Also more George. Always more George. Especially snoring George.
More snoring George, check! M
50 in and thoroughly enjoying the journey, the banter, the chemistry, the landscapes and the muddy dog aka George 😊
I love the music. Acoustic guitar seems particularly well matched to narrowboating.
It does have the right kind of ambiance. So would banjo music, though that brings back uncomfortable memories of Deliverance. M
Hey there. I’ve been watching nb vlogs for the last year or so. I’ve subscribed to a fair few and remained with most. Some I’ve left and some I’ve only paused on. I’ve just subscribed to your vlog. The chemistry between the two of you is lovely. You work very well together. I like following your conversations which are informative and fun. The filming is good and your music well chosen. Thank you ❤
Thanks, and welcome aboard! M
Fun camera trick with Jo on the bow and Michael on the stern in what appeared as the same time. Nicely done! Stephen
We were wondering if anyone would notice that! Jo
Asparagus, George’s offering, a harrowing crash...thanks, Jo and Michael, another great narrowboat vid.
Not all that harrowing... like a 3 out of 7 on the harrowing scale. M
Interesting about the asparagus farm! I would make absolutely no progress....always such interesting things to stop and check out. Smooth sailing!
Always entertaining. Thanks.
Thanks for watching. Jo
We used to grow asparagus on the farm and that is the EXACT sound it makes...wow I am impressed :):):)
Hah! Knew it! M
You keep us going! keep the vlogs coming. Alrewas was a beautiful village. We moored up there for a few hours. You are bringing back lovely memories Thank you M and J and G xxxxx
It is a very nice little spot, isn't it? M
Canal Time has no meaning when chatting..you know the rules lol, the locks on the trent and Mersey up near me have very handy little footbridges across the bottom set of gates so you don't have to walk all the way around.. also handy for pulling a boat out of the lock by the bow rope when single handing... slimy lock ladders don't interest me after a slight dip. very nice of George to drop off a gift as he visited a fan :-)
Mortifying for Jo, but George for some reason didn't seem to think twice about it! M
Another lovely vlog
Thank you! Jo
So nice, almost a full year living aboard the narrowboat! Congratulations you two!! We truly enjoy watching your vlogs! Hope to visit England some day. Cheers!!
Thank you and thanks for watching! Jo
Hi guys
Another great vlog. Michael I really enjoy watching your interest in English history. I would love to visit all those places and more one day. Keep em coming mate.
Thanks you both.
Will do! M
We must have just missed you as we spent Monday night at Fradley Jcn and did this cruise back to front yesterday. Thanks to your previous vlog we’ve also added Tamworth Castle to our itinerary on our journey south.
It's worth just walking around, but check the opening hours online if you want to go in! M
We really enjoy your videos and had been keeping an eye out to give yous a wave as we’ve been moored by the pub at Fradley this week, must have missed yous this time!
What a shame! Hope we cross paths again sometime! Jo
Lots of nice camera work! And a particularly fun video. Cruise and vlog on!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Will do! Jo
See George run! See Jo run! See Micheal run... aground... Lol.
STOP saying things I'll have to edit out! Love it. On a side note, Tabasco finds its way into much of my cooking even peanut butter cookies - you don't taste the famous Tabasco flavor, you get a little heat at the end which is delish! In the early 90's I was invited to Avery Island to do a dinner for the McIlhenny family and had a tour. One of the most gorgeous places to work and the nicest folks you could ever meet. It's lovely grounds have enormous 100+ yr old oaks with Spanish moss draping and swinging in any breeze that catches it. Beautiful animals roaming their property and a salt mine.
As for the ZZTop comment below, ROCK ON MICHAEL! The absolute only person who has a say in how we look is ourselves. How arrogant. Maybe now is the place where Jo says stop saying things I have to cut out 🙃
Take care Y'all and I'm going to keep enjoying the journey with you!
We actually stopped by Avery Island on our first road trip together... bit out of the way, but we got one of their souvenir bottle caps and a taste of Tabasco Ice Cream!! M
Minimal List Cool beans!
As you're on the Trent & Mersey, you will pass our builders, JD Narrowboats of Shardlow on your way to Nottingham. It maybe worth a stopover to checkout bespoke narrowboat building, proper. From shell build to fitout, all under one roof. Andy and Darron are true gentlemen. And funny to boot!
There are also 3 decent canalside hostelries. Excellent beer. Good food.
Hmm, good to know. We'll keep an eye out for them and see if we have a chance to visit. M
Missed you by a couple of days... we are moored at Hunts lock - last lock as you leave fradley, I also think you had a shot of our first boat just as you left the Sainsburys moorings. Happy travels
Sounds like we did. Thanks for that, and wave if you ever see us! M
Thank you for the vlog, just another standard day them, lol.
Pretty much! Thanks for watching! Jo
We always stop at Alrewas, nice place. If you need diesel, the cheapest place is Shobnall Marina, Burton-Upon-Trent.
By coincidence we just stopped for diesel there. Thanks for the tip though! Jo
lol... For years I've been doing that punny thing you did with "I'll be Bach" in the Terminator voice but I follow it up with "But not Beethoven" also in the Terminator/Arnold. I don't know if I came up with it or picked it up from somewhere. It's one of my favorite puntastic things to do.
Haha, brilliant!
Commenting for completeness, and Hi George!
Hi Back! G
Loving the vlogs, top banter, love abounds. Note: Tabasco is a must with Bbeans, otherwise what's the point....Born in Newcastle, English thro and thro, but always open to the continental ways + American.....possible nerve touch there apologies...
Good to know someone else agrees on Tabasco and Beans! And, indeed, what would be the point in any other way? ;-) M
Have not stopped by here for a while. Are you still enjoying this life? How long will you keep going?
Very much loving this life. Basically our plan remains to keep going until we run too low on money and have to take jobs, or we're forced to by other life events, or we run out of canal! We're both really enjoying the life afloat, so hopefully we find the right way to keep doing it! M
Beans on toast, food of the gods! Also it’s nice to hear the word “arbitrary” used. It so often gets bullied by “random” these days.
It's a god breakfast.
It's a good word!
Thanks for watching!
Jo
you should publish where all the Aldi and Lidl stores are we all love a bargain
Haha, we should. I could put them on a map!
Thank you for answering what they were growing in those poly-tunnels. I've went past there easter weekend and thought it might be strawberries with Staffordshire being a big strawberry growing area.
Any plans to head over to the North West?
I wouldn't have had an answer if the fellow hiding in his boat hadn't popped up and answered by random rhetorical question (and scared the bejesus out of me, for that matter), but glad I could middle-man! And yes, though somewhat vague plans... we hope to go everywhere, it's just a matter of finding out precisely when! M
Is that the same wobbly at 11:34 as you went through the wash with?
That's the one, yep! Good spot! M
Leaving 2.5 hours later than planned.... is that not the whole idea of "canal time" ? While we are on the subject of canal time; plans? what are they? Best wishes
This is all very true! Jo
Hi. I'm doing this in the summer for a holiday. Can't wait... How long to nvigte from Glascote to fradley?
I’m afraid I can’t remember how long it took us, but looks like it should be around 5 hours via CanalPlan. M
canalplan.org.uk/cgi-bin/canal.cgi
George needs a Go-Fund-Me Ball campaign
Heh ... we actually have had so many ball donations over the years that we've got them coming out of our ears! M
Sorry for the distraction. Looks like George was in the dog house for a lot of the trip. Safe travels. Where you moored near the polly tunnels you were on the Birmingham & Fazely Canal (Coventry section). It was built by the B&F and the Trent & Mersey Canal companies from Fazeley to Fradley due to their frustration with the lack of progress by the Coventry Canal co. Later the Coventry.canal bought the northern section from Whittington to Fradley. Hence the Coventry Canal (Detached portion). You notice the change when cruising as the bridges go from named (B&F) to numbered (Coventry).
We did notice the change, but good to know the historical reason... and yes, he's still in the dog house. Though, as far as we can tell, we're in there with him! M
Just wondering on whether or not you use the appropriate horn signals when at a junction?
We do. Not sure if everyone understands them. It in fact hears our incredibly quiet horn. Michael would like to fit a louder one! Jo
Classic Beans on toast, almost like Kraft Dinner Ehh!
But considerably less likely to permanently dye your insides orange! M
hi so no neutral Safety switch like the outboard motors and automatic car pass safety C , like have deadline to meet enjoy the canal
To go into neutral you just sift into the middle of the arc of the controller, to lock it in neutral you have to pull it out... newer models have a safety switch to keep it from accidentally disengaging, but ours does not. M
I'd like to see a collaboration with jono or Cruise the Cut although I do enjoy your videos much.
But what should we film together?
Officially, it's the Coventry Canal all the way from Coventry to Fradley Junction, but the Coventry Canal Company ran out of money on the first section to Fazeley, and it was the Trent & Mersey and Birmingham & Fazeley companies that built the section from Fazeley to Fradley Junction, which the Coventry Canal Company later bought back.
Ahh, that's good to know, thank you! M
When you have a dog who runs as fast as George that can be problematic
Definitely! M
4000 your lucky. i have just struggled to make it finally over 200. I wish I had 3000. Im sure it wont take you long.
We cheated somewhat by getting George, I'm afraid. We also were lucky to have this narrow focus in a niche topic, which made it much easier to break in because there's this ready-built audience of narrowboat and canal enthusiasts, and UA-cam started suggesting ours alongside others in the same topic pretty early. But we think George is what clinched it! M
Great video, but to loud music.
Please if you can turn down the volume of the music next time, i would be over the moon.
I verry mutch like all your video's and hope you dont take it personally about my complaint about the music :)
Oh, and George is just showing who's boss on the towpath :D
Greetings from Holland,, Kitty.
Of course we don’t mind. It’s great to get the feedback. I’ll keep and eye on it! Jo
Thank you :D
Rhubarb makes a noise when it grows. Up in the rhubarb triangle by Wakefield where they grow rhubarb in dark rooms you can hear the plants creaking as they grow and popping as the leaf buds burst. Asparagus grows at a similar rate so probably makes an audible noise. ua-cam.com/video/P2NMffyX2yw/v-deo.html
Good gods, I was joking about the idea! M
You can on a hot summers day hear corn grow...so why not rhubarb and asparagus.
I bloody well hate it when Ella finds an impossible gap in a fence/wall/building and can't find the way back out. I once had to hedge hop, throw 38kg of (previous) GSD over the top and then essentially ran out of steam and pretty much fell through a bramble infested 4 feet of hell and stinging nettles. Dog was of course utterly fine and had no clue as to why I was no longer his happy owner. The current one is daft enough to find electric fences and smart enough not to try crossing them again to get back to me. Guess who ends up getting electrocuted...
I need my head examined. Anyway... Smashingly banterful episode. J is lucky I'm not talking with M as most of it would be edited out!
Now I've got flashbacks of electric fences. Ugh. M
It's ok they're not flashbacks it's just the angry pixies making a permanent etch on your engrams that overheat when you give the old temporal lobe too much of a prod!
you are getting to look more and more like a band member from zztop or from US zee Zee top. Not for lovely Wife or my buddy George .. thank you for a delightful vlog ... just saying and a thought
She likes the ZZ Top look ... besides, they've been imitating me, they just didn't know it! M
Picture of frogs: Important.
Running into a tree: Less important
You need to get George trained on tending the tiller while you fillm stuff
Sometimes it’s a wonder we get anything filmed what with driving the boat operating the locks, chatting to everyone we meet and keeping and eye on a sometimes naughty George. Not sure he would make a good helmsman, we may have better luck training him as camera dog! J
Stop that, putting things in baked beans, that's like my sister, she even put sprigs of parsley in it once, I nearly choked on a big bush sized peace of it. I must admit I'm not very keen on spices, except pepper on cabbage, that works.
Haha! Michael thought I was mad when I first told him about Beans on Toast and now he loves them. Although he does insist on adding Tabasco or cheese! Jo
Both
Have you tried a dash of Worcester Sauce (or a vegetarian version of it) on cheese and/or beans on toast? Much better than tabasco!
Congratulations on Vlog #50. Quit an acheivment.
Thank you! We can't quite believe it. Or that people are actually watching. Jo