111 - The Bigge One - Tardebigge - 30 Locks in One Flight
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- In this vlog we take on Tardebigge, with 30 locks, it is the longest flight in the country. We descend 220 feet over two and a quarter miles.
We had a somewhat casual start to the day, which we come to regret about five locks in. It was a brilliant day, as it always is but at about 25 locks in we wonder if it will ever end.
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Jo wrote a short book about her travels and how she met Michael.
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You're a lucky lady Jo, Michael is a very handsome man. I absolutely love listening to some of the things he comes out with. You're a fantastic couple.
No one knows how handsome I am beneath this beard! M
Great vlog, and like the recollections of those who have done Tardebigge. So to join in, first went down it with brother and parents as a 12 year old in 1971. I was setting the locks, brother and father working them with mother at the tiller. She was also making an endless supply of peanut butter and jam (jello) sandwiches on the cabin hatch. A real sense of achievement having completed it. Two days later came back up.
We just walked the Tardebigge flight this morning. I never did it on my narrowboat, but we enjoyed the walk.
It’s enjoyable on the boat as well, but not NEARLY as relaxing! Glad you liked it! M
I love oddities! The guy with the Alp Horn is just so wonderfully eccentric. Once, on a bike ride I encountered a bloke playing the bagpipes in the middle of a forest!
Hmm... that doesn't seem so strange to me. I mean If you're going to practice the pipes and there are no actual Highlands aboot, best to do it deep in a forest where no one will call the police or the animal cruelty people. M
You're absolutely right! I stopped and chatted with the guy, and that was absolutely his reasoning. He couldn't practise in his flat because it was too loud for his neighbours. It was just so out of the ordinary to meet a piper in the middle of a forest!
I've always assumed the forests of Scotland were filled with them... otherwise I'd tend to assume there'd be a lot fewer wee young Scots about. I suppose I see the pipes as basically the precise opposite of an aphrodisiac. M
Back in 1989 or 1990 we used my narrowboat to do all Tardibigge locks (I thought there were 40 something?) down and back in one day as a sponsored thing for charity. We raised over £900 but I had a big advantage, there were a dozen of us!
Officially it’s 30 in the flight proper... down and back in one day would be a hell of a lot of work! Well done! M
Great music on this video
My teenage lad and I brought our newly bought boat up the flight on one of the hottest days of the summer this year, it was a bit of a baptism of fire for him but great fun (so I told him)
I'm sure between the moments of surly and the deepest most emotional connection to musical bands he shall ever know he enjoyed it, or so you will tell him! M
George, how do you manage with such carless staff who mix up your food and water bowls, where is that number for my staffing agency again. ha ha Love the Vlog Guys
Wife and I use simple walkie-talkie for comms in situations where communication with each other may be required. they have been helpful in the past. just an idea. another great vid.
I suggest the idea all the time, as I'm half deaf and nearly fully so when standing over the engine, but I don't think she wants to listen to me doing an impression of Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. It's a reasonable fear. M
Good work making the kids earn their ride
There's something to be said for child labor on the canals. M
I did Tardebigge 24 years ago (3rd time) from Worcester. The crew consisted of me, able bodied. 1 member 7 months pregnant, friend with broken collar bone, and lastly a novice. I had a thirst you could paint a picture of by the summit!!!
Hah, can only imagine! M
Fab vlog. Tardebigge were the first ever locks we tackled years ago.
That's quite the baptism! M
Yes. We learnt very quickly.
Cute kiddos! Enjoyed the vid guys.
They were so sweet! M
Michael & Jo this is where IF you had time to illustrate, the 30 Lock Decent into Hell could really add to the VLOG. However it takes a lot of time for like a 30 second clip.
If only we could afford a team of animators! M
I'm old as dirt and even I know thats not how you dab. Thank you for the smiles you create.
Heh! You're welcome! M
What a day! Your new lock helpers had to be the cutest!!! (No offense, George) So sweet of you to give those children the thrill of a ride! You both earned your dinner that day. Probably didn't have to be rocked to sleep. LOL Beautiful scenery, too!
They were so adorable those two! And their dad was really nice. Was a pleasure to have them as temporary crew! M
Lovely bit of footage of you going through the locks. I’m not in a rush to do them myself!
They're absolutely worth doing, but make sure you get going early and have plenty of steam! M
Well done. You were luckier than us, we did it all in the rain. Not this year though, a couple of years ago. There wasn't that much rain this summer!
I'm sure it's all been waiting for an opportune moment to strike. M
We did it with 4 people on the locks and one driving. It took us 2 and a half hours
Nice... helps to have help!
Great vlog as always. That was a long way down... three locks short of the pits of despair.....
But well past there lawyers and politicians level! M
Well done Guys. You made it look easy. George supervising as usually. Great filming as well. Thanks.
George is always supervising. He's very good at it. M
Well done Jo looks quite the part with the windlass tucked into her belt. I always carried mine at the back.
She's got a little leather belt loop we got from Tooley's Boatyard! A consummate professional! M
just superb
Good morning , another enjoyable video , snakes and now an Alpine horn nothing boring about narrow boat life. P. S that is some flight of locks !
It really is! And, yeah, what's next? Yodeling? Alligators? It's a constant surprise! M
You two need a walkie talkie set to make sure your safe..Great vloga as always :)
I've mentioned the idea many times, I think she's got images in her mind of me squawking things like "breaker breaker, come in good buddy, Smokey's on your six!" all the time. M
Well done
Stewart William
Thanks! M
A well deserved rest resulting in another great video cheers
Thanks for watching! M
Wow - lots of boats going up! Aren't you lucky! It took my wife and I about 4 hours to do that flight - it was a beautiful day for us too. We were being followed by a boat with a crew of 5, so I ended up letting them go by us, which meant that every lock after that was the wrong way. We got into a rhythm and was able to do a complete lock from the beginning of one to the beginning of the next in 8 minutes! We made it down just after sunset. What an accomplishment, huh? Congratulations!
I talked with the HAM radio guy that you mentioned. I had his call sign but lost it, unfortunately. He told me that he's mainly on 10m.
We had a really great holiday - lots of great memories!
Thanks for the video!
It is an accomplishment! We got lucky on a few of them, which was nice. Once you get into a rhythm it goes reasonably fast, though it's hard to keep rhythm to an Alpine Horn! M
G0EHQ - www.qrzcq.com/call/G0EHQ
More than a little curious about that sailplane in his backyard. M
Not bad - doing that lot in half a day! Well done.👍
Thanks! M
Another lovely video and one that raised a philosophical question. Its clearly a tiring experience traversing 30 locks in a single day, but is it more tiring from the drivers perspective, going down the flight or up it? .... Hmm?
Personally I find down harder, from a purely psychological perspective. You descend with the boat and then you feel a bit trapped waiting for actions you can’t see while also worrying about what’s going on with your partner as well as what’s on the other side of the door. Going up is physically a bit harder work, especially when I’ve got to climb out, but mentally less stressful. That said your experience might be the opposite! M
ha! As soon as I heard the Alpine horn playing I thought 'twirlywoos' (parents of toddlers will understand)
Hah... took a quick Google, but having seen a clip I now wonder how all such parents survive. M
Wow, well done you guys. That took a massive effort which you can see in your faces in the outro. Great video as always.
Thanks! It was good fun, but yeah definitely taxing towards the end! M
Great video. We came up Tardebigge early summer, definitely a big box ticked X
Or 30 little boxes! M
ha ha
IT WAS FUNNY WATCHING YOUR VIDEO VLOG THEIR WAS A DOG BARKING IN THE BACK GROUND AND OUR GOG WOULD NOT STOP BARKING HE WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY
Heh, George sometimes perks up when there's a dog barking on UA-cam. He likes to try and move the screen with his nose. M
Ahh a man playing an Alpine horn, we must be in Worcestershire now! Elgar eat your heart out.
Is this a common thing in Worcestershire? Shall I expect didgeridoo as I move towards Wales? M
@@MinimalList who knows. I'm a Warwickshire lad and they're all odd over there.
Though as all roads in worcestershire seem to be part of the Elgar way and most brown signs point to an Elgar museum, they are odd and musical.
Fascinating, that all roads lead to Pomp and Circumstance. M
I like that you guys went back to the old ways and used child labor... LoL
"If you don't move that water paddle fast enough, then there will be no candy for you, now get a move on you little whipper snapper!"
They're just the right height for pushing lock gates! M
Whew! I need the day off after that. Which is easy because I'm retired. I'll make a big breakfast since I burned so many virtual calories. Teaching engineering students tomorrow......feet up today.
Enjoy the virtual beans and toast! M
We returned early to the hire base too early so we went down the flight, turned round and came back up, it just had to be done
Eek! Hope not all in one day! M
Crew of 4, 1 setting, 1 opening and 1 closing, amazing how quick it can be done
Ahh, well yeah, with 4 I can see it. M
Interesting those locks seems like all the uphill gates were a single gate and all the downhill gates were a double gate. Hmm.
Fairly common design on some of the narrow canals. Not sure the reasoning behind them. M
@@MinimalList would it be to do with weight? Downstream gates being taller and thus heavier than upsream ones.
Single gate at the bottom would mean having to make the lock longer to allow for the increased arc as it opens into the chamber, so more cost. Top gate opens out into the pound so it doesn't matter.
Can't reference that or give a source, sorry, but remember hearing it and it seems to make sense!
You must have got a big whiff the remnants of that sauce
So, did the pub people clue you as to the correct pronunciation of Tardibigge? I think we deserve to know.
I wonder if back in the day, when so so many working narrow boats traveled the canals if traversing the locks was quicker. Y'all often transit locks that are set against you. The traffic back in the day must have passed one another frequently, and the locks would be ready for 'oncoming boats.' Folks probably didn't close both sets of gates, leaving one gate open for the incoming boat. I'm sure boats spent a fair bit of time lined up waiting turns, and that would take some time. I just imagine the lock itself would generally be set in one's favor.
Any idea how many boats traveled the canals at the height of usage?
Obviously they need to put a bakery in the middle of the flight,
so boaters can grab a berry cheese danish for energy
Obviously! M
There is already the national collection of telephone boxes half way down. You can't have everything.
But if those telephone boxes were loaded up with berry cheese danishes, wouldn't more people visit? M
That was a long day And at the last lock when you both obviously exhausted there was George fresh as a daisy wanting more. Not a trip you want to do too often. Any chance of a map of where you have been so far? I'm losing track.
We keep a map that we've marked up, I'll ask Jo to put a shot of it into a future video (though we're still several weeks behind ourselves, so it may take a while!). M
Ask ten people how to pronounce Tardebigge and you get eleven different answers. Cheers from nb Brandy Girl.
Hah! I've had three myself, so makes sense! M
PS I DO LIKE YÒUR VLOGS OR VIDEOS
If we can do the flight at the speed of the video it would be brilliant.
I think the lock mechanisms might melt! M
Now I see it is a go for horns to be played at canal locks I shall have to get down there with my Yemenite Kudu Shofar . This is not be in the vid .... ua-cam.com/video/Gtr-YqJ7dR8/v-deo.html . How about a dehumidifier ? One of those will suck all of the moisture out of the boat , just be sure to close the doors otherwise you will drain the canal ha ha . Mind you , you can just pour it back in . And we have also been introduced to the "Canals Strongest Man."
I'd never heard a Shofar played to this moment. Fascinating. I like the dehumidifier idea, but they draw a LOT of power, and power budgeting is always our problem. M
You’re right. It’s definitely a biggy.
A tardy biggie, no less! M
Tar - dee- big. Prefer your version, M.
Me too. Though I've got three. M
HOW LONG IS YOUR BOAT PLEASE NEED TO KNOW HOW SAD AM I
Somewhere about 55-57', depending on where you measure it. M
cruising up, cruising down, all day long. Do you believe that you have achieved anything worthwhile at the end of the day???
Hey I I managed too be first viewer on this one
Well done! M
I heard Gabriel blow his horn
I didn't catch the gentleman's name, but "Gabriel" doesn't seem very Swiss. I think the reports of Judgement may be premature. M
@@MinimalList lol so you didn't run into a George Burns looking fellow at the last gate huh?
Nope. Morgan Freeman either. Though I'd have preferred Burns. M
Lol, ears popping as your descending? A little over a third of the videos so far. Haven't been able to watch in the last 2 weeks.
Good to have you back! 👍🏻