The journey is over - highlights, learnings, general musings
As my long canal journey of almost four months has come to an end it's time to reflect a bit and - I admit it - boast of a few stats. It was epic. It was slow. It was exciting and exhausting.
From May to September 2017 I travelled all the way from London to Liverpool and back at about 3mph on a good day. I saw more of England in that time than in all my 13 years of living in the UK before.
First for some highlights.
No 1. Macclesfield Canal
This was my absolute top favourite, because of the amazing countryside around. The Macc runs right alongside the Peak District and there are views of the hills throughout. Another amazing feature of the Macc are the huge old industrial mills in the middle of nowhere. It is also a pleasant canal to cruise as it only has one lockflight so offer lots of leisurely cruising without any locks. The only downside was that it was not possible to moor in many locations as it was very shallow.
No. 2 Trent & Mersey
I have been on the Trent & Mersey roughly from Preston Brook to Fradley Junction (with a small gap) so cannot say anything about the canal more towards the Eastern end. I really liked the Trent & Mersey for its location in the Trent river valley with its lush meadows. It also features some of the major canal attractions like the Anderton boat lift and the Harecastle tunnel (although I would count the Harecastle tunnel as one of my least favourite parts of the route). Another highlight for me was the industrial heritage of the potteries around Stoke-on-Trent.
No. 3 Shropshire Union / Staffordshire & Worcestershire
This is a draw as the Shroppie has a lot going for it but also some downsides. The Northern part especially is beautiful with its lush rolling green hills dotted with cows and sheep. Also there are the most spectacular cuttings, which are like green tunnels with steep sides. Plus it has one of the nicest lock flights at Audlem. But it also has the stupid underwater ledge making mooring difficult and bad mobile coverage (sorry that's got to be a factor in this day and age). The Staffs & Worcs has lovely deep cuttings too and a really varied countryside around it. Also it meanders more, which I really like, whereas the Shroppie is dead straight most of the time.
A bit less than half of all the locks were broad locks for two narrowboats, and the other half narrow locks. There is no way any lock flight of broad locks could make it onto my favourites list as the narrow locks are so much easier and faster to tackle. So my favourite lock flights were:
No. 1 Audlem (15 locks)
What I really liked about Audlem was the buzz around the locks. There were lots of boats around and a few pubs, so there was plenty going on. Also the locks were very well maintained and easy to do single-handed. My only constructive feedback would be: why the heck did they build the weirs so that the bywash runs directly across the lock entrances so that you bang into the wall every time!?
No. 2 Lapworth (18 locks)
This was my first narrow lock flight as I was coming off the Grand Union (and the endless Hatton flight), so maybe my perception was a bit clouded by the relief of how easy this was in comparison. But I did really enjoy these locks. They were in a very nice setting and easy to operate single-handed. They were also of a good depth so that I could get on and off the boat easily from the roof rather than needing the ladders. I didn't meet any other boats throughout apart from a boat following me in the first couple of locks, so could really do things in my own time.
No. 3 Marple (16 locks)
I must admit I had help from volunteers in these locks and I am not sure whether I would have enjoyed this one quite as much without them. It looked quite difficult to get on and off for a single-hander here. But as things were at the time, this was great. The flight is in a really interesting setting starting off between houses at the top, then going under a street into park land with picnic areas. Just a really interesting and varied experience.
No. 1 Rochdale in Manchester (9 locks)
This one holds the top position, because of its setting and the state it is in. The canal runs through the centre of Manchester here and the locks are located under buildings, dirty underpasses and road bridges. The canal was full of rubbish as were the lock sides and towpaths. At one point there wasn't even a towpath so it was necessary to scramble over a CRT work boat to actually get to the lock. Not a pleasant experience and I was glad to have crew here. It didn't help that it rained throughout our journey.
I have no pictures of this one. That says it all.
No. 2 Hatton (21 broad locks)
Hatton makes this list for the sheer exertion it requires to get through it. This was by far the toughest flight of the whole journey. The Hatton lock gates are big and heavy and they have the hydraulic paddle mechanisms like all locks on this part of the Grand Union. They take endless winding winding winding ... It was also the longest time for a lock flight with about 5 hours. And it rained here as well (there may be a theme?). I was shattered after this one.
2) Wigan (7 broad locks)
I didn't do the actual lock flight in Wigan (21!), only the locks in the run up to it from the west. I don't even want to think about doing the 21. These were some of the heaviest lock gates I encountered and they were leaking so badly that after having used the paddles on only one side as a single-hander I had to walk round and open the other side anyway in order to get the gate to open at all. It was not possible to walk over the closed gates like it is on the locks on the Grand Union. On some locks it's even necessary to walk over a road bridge to get to the other side. A real pain. One one of these I spent the longest time at any individual lock with 1.5h!
No 1 Liverpool Canal Link
If anybody is anywhere on a boat near Liverpool and hasn't been here, this is one for the bucket list. Going through the old docks past museum boats, major landmarks and the waterside developments right into the centre of Liverpool is just fantastic. As are the moorings in the heart of the redeveloped docks. This was the destination and the absolute highlight of the journey.
No. 2 Marple aqueduct
I didn't make it to the really really big aqueduct that everyone has seen on pictures at Pontcysyllte. But the Marple aqueduct is pretty spectacular too. It is majestic as it is built of stone arches. It is high. And it does not have the abyss right next to the water (as the Pontcysyllte has) but a little bit of a ledge. I am not that good with heights, so this was about enough for my taste.
No 3 Dudley tunnel
This is a tunnel that I have not actually boated myself as it's only allowed to go in with a boat from the Black Country Museum. Usually tunnels are not my favourites as I find them hard to navigate. Here I could lean back and enjoy the ride on the electric barge. The main attraction of the Dudley tunnel are the caverns inside where lime for steel making used to me mined. A unique and surreal place.
There are many many more canal highlights like the Barton swing aqueduct, the Anderton boat lift, the great tunnels, embankments and cuttings and so many interesting industrial places by the canals. I could go on forever.
The whole trip was 625 miles long.
This included 525 locks and movable bridges. On the way north the number of locks by far outnumbered the number of miles. This was mainly due to Birmingham being on a hill and later the detour into the Peak District (the Macclesfield canal is 500ft high) to then come down to sea level at Liverpool. On the way back I avoided all of that. Hence I did 322 locks on the way to Liverpool and "only" 203 coming back.
The whole trip took 387 hours of boating.
I travelled on 19 different canals, not counting different branches of the same canal. I haven't travelled the whole length of some of them, so can only give my impressions of the stretches that I did see. In order of first appearance they were:
Grand Union
The canal motorway between London and Birmingham.
Stratford
Includes the lovely lock flight at Lapworth. A beautiful winding rural canal.
Worcester & Birmingham
The route into the heart of Birmingham. Not the most interesting I felt and in places quite dirty. But no locks for a long way which is a bonus.
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN)
This is a whole spaghetti tangle of canals. The old main line is great, especially the sections that wind under the M5.
Dudley No. 1 and No. 2
For me they were mainly the connection out of Birmingham to get the other side of the Dudley tunnel, which is closed to all private traffic. Quite a lot of locks to come down from Birmingham.
Stourbridge
More locks in continuation of the Dudley canals. For me mainly the connection to the Staffs & Worcs. Surprisingly rural considering its proximity to Birmingham.
Staffordshire & Worcestershire
Very beautiful and one of my favourites. Steep rocky cuttings and winding through lots of lovely countryside.
Trent & Mersey
One of my favourites as described above.
Macclesfield
Skirting the edge of the Peak District this canal has the most amazing views.
Lower Peak Forest
Near the Peak District this was the start of the descent into Manchester. Includes the lovely Marple flight.
Ashton
A short stretch of canal with a lot of locks and a bad reputation through the outskirts of Manchester. It wasn't that bad at all.
Rochdale
The Rochdale goes over the Pennines and I am sure is beautiful there. The bit in Manchester that I did wasn't.
Bridgewater
A sleek well maintained canal without locks, therefore pleasant to cruise.
Leeds & Liverpool (main line and Rufford branch)
This one goes over the Pennines, but I only did the part between Manchester and Liverpool and a spur to Rufford. It is largely flat agricultural land with wide vistas. The canal is very pretty with lots of reeds and water lilies.
Shropshire Union (main line and Middlewich Branch)
A very popular canal and therefore quite crowded. A lovely canal, see above.
Coventry
A rural winding canal through old mining country. Very shallow in places.
Birmingham & Fazeley (only the bit in the middle of the Coventry)
I only know the tiny bit in the middle of the Coventry canal so can't say very much about this one.
Oxford North
A lovely winding canal as it is one of the oldest. Old canal arms with lovely iron bridges can be seen along the course.
And to be even more nerdy, this is the proportion of time spent on each canal. The Grand Union really is a long slog from and to London.
Counties visited
Along the way I visited 11 counties, in order of first appearance they were:
I had thought I knew how to do locks just from experience on the Grand Union. I learnt that there are many types of locks and each one requires an adjustment of technique. The ones on the northern canals are often harder to operate as they often have bridges over them rather than a way to step across the gates, which means a lot of walking around. And they have the anti-vandal locks that need to be unlocked and locked on every single paddle.
I learnt the hard way (literally) that narrow locks can have fierce flows when going up. Usually the boat first drifts back a bit, then accelerates forward sometimes at surprising speed. And hits the top gate if unchecked. I now always open paddles very carefully and ask any lock crew to do the same even when I'm on the boat, as in some locks even reversing hard was not enough to prevent hitting the gate hard.
I learnt to appreciate weirs in lock flights as they keep the water level equal throughout the flight. Flights without weirs can be difficult as water levels can drop quickly or locks overflow. In one lock in the Marple flight it was impossible to step onto the lock side without getting wet feet, because the whole surrounding area flooded when the lock above was opened!
I also learnt how much things can be speeded up in a lock flight by setting the next lock ahead before leaving a lock. Not many people do this and I have encountered confusion and even once anger when I did it. Thanks to the Idle Women crew who taught me this!
... about swing bridges
Swing and especially lift bridges remain a pain single-handed. Most of them have the operating mechanism on the offside. Fortunately only a few of those I encountered had no way of landing the boat on the offside. On those that did not have a bollard on the side where the mechanism was, I landed on the towpath side, walked across the bridge with a line and tied it to the bridge or anything available on that side.
I found out that it's not good to do this with the centre line as it's too long and unwieldy and the boat will go everywhere. Especially under the bridge and there is nothing you can do other than watch as the bridge takes out whatever sticks up highest on the bow. The right way for me is to take the bow line instead.
... about people
First and foremost, most people are so friendly and helpful on the canals. I have only very rarely met a grumpy person.
I loved the CRT volunteers. As a single-hander I was very grateful for their help wherever I found them. On the Marple flight there was a team of three and they were so efficient that I was through in no time. I really appreciate that they give up their own time to help people operate the locks.
I often hear of tension between boaters and fishermen. I have not had a single problem with a fisherman. Yes they sometimes lift their rods out of the water quite late, but that's more their problem than mine. I alwas tried to to wave or make eye contact and smile and most acknowledged my greeting. Even the people of the super competitive fishing clubs on the Shroppie were fine with boats passing.
And finally I really enjoyed sharing locks with holiday boaters. They are not always the most competent, but they are nearly always in a good mood and they are always happy to learn. It was easier for me to explain to them how I prefer to do the locks as a single-hander and they were usually happy to go along with that.
I could talk about people speeding past moored boats or being unhelpful or grumpy, but honestly this happened so rarely that they hardly left any lasting impressions.
I had often heard that Northerners are more friendly than Londoners. Coming from Berlin, where people are infamous for their grumpiness, I find Londoners generally quite friendly. But it is absolutely true that in the North people are incredibly friendly and warm (again a generalisation of course). Everybody chit chats in a warm and relaxed way where in London people are so often in a rush. And I have to admit I loved being called "me duck" or "lovely" all the time. And I discovered that Liverpudlians absolutely love their city. Everybody I met explained that Liverpool had the biggest, the oldest, the most of something.
I also realised how different London is from the rest of the country, when I noticed that I hadn't heard another language or seen a non-white face for a long time. I felt almost at home when I heard somebody speaking Polish in a restaurant somewhere.
This also had a flip side for me being a foreigner (albeit with dual citizenship) myself. First and foremost: everyone was very nice to me. I didn't get any grief from anyone about my little EU flag in a flower pot (I couldn't resist that) or the fact that I'm German.
But one situation recurred over and over and it made me a bit sad: whoever I spoke to, their first question would always be "where are you from"? I'm sure it was meant in a nice way and often just a way of making conversation, but it showed me that where I am from was the defining aspect of me to everybody I met. It means that I will never truly belong. I will always be an "other".
This never happens in London. Where somebody is from may come up in conversation at some point, but it is never the very first thing you want to know about somebody. My answer should have been of course "from London". But I couldn't bring myself to say that knowing that's not what they meant.
So this is the end of the trip and hence the blog. I am now back in the marina in London and will be working over the winter. I will try and do something similar, though maybe not quite as long next summer. So stay tuned. I may be back on here.
From May to September 2017 I travelled all the way from London to Liverpool and back at about 3mph on a good day. I saw more of England in that time than in all my 13 years of living in the UK before.
First for some highlights.
My top three favourite canals
I travelled on 19 different canals (see more details below). It is hard to say which are my favourites as every canal has its own character and special features.But I think my top three are:No 1. Macclesfield Canal
This was my absolute top favourite, because of the amazing countryside around. The Macc runs right alongside the Peak District and there are views of the hills throughout. Another amazing feature of the Macc are the huge old industrial mills in the middle of nowhere. It is also a pleasant canal to cruise as it only has one lockflight so offer lots of leisurely cruising without any locks. The only downside was that it was not possible to moor in many locations as it was very shallow.
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| In the lock flight on the Macclesfield |
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| A huge mill on the Macc |
No. 2 Trent & Mersey
I have been on the Trent & Mersey roughly from Preston Brook to Fradley Junction (with a small gap) so cannot say anything about the canal more towards the Eastern end. I really liked the Trent & Mersey for its location in the Trent river valley with its lush meadows. It also features some of the major canal attractions like the Anderton boat lift and the Harecastle tunnel (although I would count the Harecastle tunnel as one of my least favourite parts of the route). Another highlight for me was the industrial heritage of the potteries around Stoke-on-Trent.
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| Water meadows |
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| Aqueduct on the Trent & Mersey |
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| Deep lock in Stone |
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| Pottery kilns ("bottle ovens") canal side |
No. 3 Shropshire Union / Staffordshire & Worcestershire
This is a draw as the Shroppie has a lot going for it but also some downsides. The Northern part especially is beautiful with its lush rolling green hills dotted with cows and sheep. Also there are the most spectacular cuttings, which are like green tunnels with steep sides. Plus it has one of the nicest lock flights at Audlem. But it also has the stupid underwater ledge making mooring difficult and bad mobile coverage (sorry that's got to be a factor in this day and age). The Staffs & Worcs has lovely deep cuttings too and a really varied countryside around it. Also it meanders more, which I really like, whereas the Shroppie is dead straight most of the time.
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| Rocky cutting on the Staffs & Worcs |
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| On the Shroppie |
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| Audlem lock flight |
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| Cutting on the Shroppie |
My top three lock flights
Despite the fact that locks are strenuous and slow down the travelling, they are also a great activity to break up hours of cruising (especially for a single hander like me that can't even just quickly nip inside and make a cuppa). There is something about transporting your boat to the top of a hill along a string of locks that is deeply satisfying afterwards.A bit less than half of all the locks were broad locks for two narrowboats, and the other half narrow locks. There is no way any lock flight of broad locks could make it onto my favourites list as the narrow locks are so much easier and faster to tackle. So my favourite lock flights were:
No. 1 Audlem (15 locks)
What I really liked about Audlem was the buzz around the locks. There were lots of boats around and a few pubs, so there was plenty going on. Also the locks were very well maintained and easy to do single-handed. My only constructive feedback would be: why the heck did they build the weirs so that the bywash runs directly across the lock entrances so that you bang into the wall every time!?
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| Audlem flight |
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| The Shroppie Fly pub at Audlem locks |
No. 2 Lapworth (18 locks)
This was my first narrow lock flight as I was coming off the Grand Union (and the endless Hatton flight), so maybe my perception was a bit clouded by the relief of how easy this was in comparison. But I did really enjoy these locks. They were in a very nice setting and easy to operate single-handed. They were also of a good depth so that I could get on and off the boat easily from the roof rather than needing the ladders. I didn't meet any other boats throughout apart from a boat following me in the first couple of locks, so could really do things in my own time.
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| Lapworth top lock |
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| Lapworth lock |
No. 3 Marple (16 locks)
I must admit I had help from volunteers in these locks and I am not sure whether I would have enjoyed this one quite as much without them. It looked quite difficult to get on and off for a single-hander here. But as things were at the time, this was great. The flight is in a really interesting setting starting off between houses at the top, then going under a street into park land with picnic areas. Just a really interesting and varied experience.
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| Marple flight |
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| Marple flight |
My worst three lock flights
Not all lock flights were so great, so I have a list of least favourite ones as well. This will be the only negative list on here so bear with me for a moment.No. 1 Rochdale in Manchester (9 locks)
This one holds the top position, because of its setting and the state it is in. The canal runs through the centre of Manchester here and the locks are located under buildings, dirty underpasses and road bridges. The canal was full of rubbish as were the lock sides and towpaths. At one point there wasn't even a towpath so it was necessary to scramble over a CRT work boat to actually get to the lock. Not a pleasant experience and I was glad to have crew here. It didn't help that it rained throughout our journey.
I have no pictures of this one. That says it all.
No. 2 Hatton (21 broad locks)
Hatton makes this list for the sheer exertion it requires to get through it. This was by far the toughest flight of the whole journey. The Hatton lock gates are big and heavy and they have the hydraulic paddle mechanisms like all locks on this part of the Grand Union. They take endless winding winding winding ... It was also the longest time for a lock flight with about 5 hours. And it rained here as well (there may be a theme?). I was shattered after this one.
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| Hatton "stairway to heaven" |
2) Wigan (7 broad locks)
I didn't do the actual lock flight in Wigan (21!), only the locks in the run up to it from the west. I don't even want to think about doing the 21. These were some of the heaviest lock gates I encountered and they were leaking so badly that after having used the paddles on only one side as a single-hander I had to walk round and open the other side anyway in order to get the gate to open at all. It was not possible to walk over the closed gates like it is on the locks on the Grand Union. On some locks it's even necessary to walk over a road bridge to get to the other side. A real pain. One one of these I spent the longest time at any individual lock with 1.5h!
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| Lock in Wigan with road bridge |
My top three favourite places
Back to the positives. There were so many great places that it's hard to pick the absolute highlights.No 1 Liverpool Canal Link
If anybody is anywhere on a boat near Liverpool and hasn't been here, this is one for the bucket list. Going through the old docks past museum boats, major landmarks and the waterside developments right into the centre of Liverpool is just fantastic. As are the moorings in the heart of the redeveloped docks. This was the destination and the absolute highlight of the journey.
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| Approaching the Liver building |
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| Mooring in Liverpool |
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| Big boats in the docks |
No. 2 Marple aqueduct
I didn't make it to the really really big aqueduct that everyone has seen on pictures at Pontcysyllte. But the Marple aqueduct is pretty spectacular too. It is majestic as it is built of stone arches. It is high. And it does not have the abyss right next to the water (as the Pontcysyllte has) but a little bit of a ledge. I am not that good with heights, so this was about enough for my taste.
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| Marple aqueduct from below |
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| On the aqueduct |
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| Looking down |
No 3 Dudley tunnel
This is a tunnel that I have not actually boated myself as it's only allowed to go in with a boat from the Black Country Museum. Usually tunnels are not my favourites as I find them hard to navigate. Here I could lean back and enjoy the ride on the electric barge. The main attraction of the Dudley tunnel are the caverns inside where lime for steel making used to me mined. A unique and surreal place.
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| Lime cavern |
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| Lime caverns |
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| Inside a cavern |
There are many many more canal highlights like the Barton swing aqueduct, the Anderton boat lift, the great tunnels, embankments and cuttings and so many interesting industrial places by the canals. I could go on forever.
The numbers
As I am slightly nerdy and love numbers, here are some statistic courtesy of my log book.The whole trip was 625 miles long.
This included 525 locks and movable bridges. On the way north the number of locks by far outnumbered the number of miles. This was mainly due to Birmingham being on a hill and later the detour into the Peak District (the Macclesfield canal is 500ft high) to then come down to sea level at Liverpool. On the way back I avoided all of that. Hence I did 322 locks on the way to Liverpool and "only" 203 coming back.
The whole trip took 387 hours of boating.
I travelled on 19 different canals, not counting different branches of the same canal. I haven't travelled the whole length of some of them, so can only give my impressions of the stretches that I did see. In order of first appearance they were:
Grand Union
The canal motorway between London and Birmingham.
Stratford
Includes the lovely lock flight at Lapworth. A beautiful winding rural canal.
Worcester & Birmingham
The route into the heart of Birmingham. Not the most interesting I felt and in places quite dirty. But no locks for a long way which is a bonus.
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN)
This is a whole spaghetti tangle of canals. The old main line is great, especially the sections that wind under the M5.
Dudley No. 1 and No. 2
For me they were mainly the connection out of Birmingham to get the other side of the Dudley tunnel, which is closed to all private traffic. Quite a lot of locks to come down from Birmingham.
Stourbridge
More locks in continuation of the Dudley canals. For me mainly the connection to the Staffs & Worcs. Surprisingly rural considering its proximity to Birmingham.
Staffordshire & Worcestershire
Very beautiful and one of my favourites. Steep rocky cuttings and winding through lots of lovely countryside.
Trent & Mersey
One of my favourites as described above.
Macclesfield
Skirting the edge of the Peak District this canal has the most amazing views.
Lower Peak Forest
Near the Peak District this was the start of the descent into Manchester. Includes the lovely Marple flight.
Ashton
A short stretch of canal with a lot of locks and a bad reputation through the outskirts of Manchester. It wasn't that bad at all.
Rochdale
The Rochdale goes over the Pennines and I am sure is beautiful there. The bit in Manchester that I did wasn't.
Bridgewater
A sleek well maintained canal without locks, therefore pleasant to cruise.
Leeds & Liverpool (main line and Rufford branch)
This one goes over the Pennines, but I only did the part between Manchester and Liverpool and a spur to Rufford. It is largely flat agricultural land with wide vistas. The canal is very pretty with lots of reeds and water lilies.
Shropshire Union (main line and Middlewich Branch)
A very popular canal and therefore quite crowded. A lovely canal, see above.
Coventry
A rural winding canal through old mining country. Very shallow in places.
Birmingham & Fazeley (only the bit in the middle of the Coventry)
I only know the tiny bit in the middle of the Coventry canal so can't say very much about this one.
Oxford North
A lovely winding canal as it is one of the oldest. Old canal arms with lovely iron bridges can be seen along the course.
And to be even more nerdy, this is the proportion of time spent on each canal. The Grand Union really is a long slog from and to London.
Counties visited
Along the way I visited 11 counties, in order of first appearance they were:
- Middlesex (i.e. London to you and me)
- Hertfordshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Bedfordshire
- Northamptonshire
- Warwickshire
- Worcestershire
- Staffordshire
- Cheshire
- Lancashire
- Shropshire
What have I learnt
... about locksI had thought I knew how to do locks just from experience on the Grand Union. I learnt that there are many types of locks and each one requires an adjustment of technique. The ones on the northern canals are often harder to operate as they often have bridges over them rather than a way to step across the gates, which means a lot of walking around. And they have the anti-vandal locks that need to be unlocked and locked on every single paddle.
I learnt the hard way (literally) that narrow locks can have fierce flows when going up. Usually the boat first drifts back a bit, then accelerates forward sometimes at surprising speed. And hits the top gate if unchecked. I now always open paddles very carefully and ask any lock crew to do the same even when I'm on the boat, as in some locks even reversing hard was not enough to prevent hitting the gate hard.
I learnt to appreciate weirs in lock flights as they keep the water level equal throughout the flight. Flights without weirs can be difficult as water levels can drop quickly or locks overflow. In one lock in the Marple flight it was impossible to step onto the lock side without getting wet feet, because the whole surrounding area flooded when the lock above was opened!
I also learnt how much things can be speeded up in a lock flight by setting the next lock ahead before leaving a lock. Not many people do this and I have encountered confusion and even once anger when I did it. Thanks to the Idle Women crew who taught me this!
... about swing bridges
Swing and especially lift bridges remain a pain single-handed. Most of them have the operating mechanism on the offside. Fortunately only a few of those I encountered had no way of landing the boat on the offside. On those that did not have a bollard on the side where the mechanism was, I landed on the towpath side, walked across the bridge with a line and tied it to the bridge or anything available on that side.
I found out that it's not good to do this with the centre line as it's too long and unwieldy and the boat will go everywhere. Especially under the bridge and there is nothing you can do other than watch as the bridge takes out whatever sticks up highest on the bow. The right way for me is to take the bow line instead.
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| I mostly ended up like this at some point |
... about people
First and foremost, most people are so friendly and helpful on the canals. I have only very rarely met a grumpy person.
I loved the CRT volunteers. As a single-hander I was very grateful for their help wherever I found them. On the Marple flight there was a team of three and they were so efficient that I was through in no time. I really appreciate that they give up their own time to help people operate the locks.
I often hear of tension between boaters and fishermen. I have not had a single problem with a fisherman. Yes they sometimes lift their rods out of the water quite late, but that's more their problem than mine. I alwas tried to to wave or make eye contact and smile and most acknowledged my greeting. Even the people of the super competitive fishing clubs on the Shroppie were fine with boats passing.
And finally I really enjoyed sharing locks with holiday boaters. They are not always the most competent, but they are nearly always in a good mood and they are always happy to learn. It was easier for me to explain to them how I prefer to do the locks as a single-hander and they were usually happy to go along with that.
I could talk about people speeding past moored boats or being unhelpful or grumpy, but honestly this happened so rarely that they hardly left any lasting impressions.
Some personal notes
In addition to being my first long solo boat trip, this was also a journey into a largely unknown part of the country for me. I have lived in London for the last 13 years. My main trips outside London had so far been to Southern places, cities and towns.I had often heard that Northerners are more friendly than Londoners. Coming from Berlin, where people are infamous for their grumpiness, I find Londoners generally quite friendly. But it is absolutely true that in the North people are incredibly friendly and warm (again a generalisation of course). Everybody chit chats in a warm and relaxed way where in London people are so often in a rush. And I have to admit I loved being called "me duck" or "lovely" all the time. And I discovered that Liverpudlians absolutely love their city. Everybody I met explained that Liverpool had the biggest, the oldest, the most of something.
I also realised how different London is from the rest of the country, when I noticed that I hadn't heard another language or seen a non-white face for a long time. I felt almost at home when I heard somebody speaking Polish in a restaurant somewhere.
This also had a flip side for me being a foreigner (albeit with dual citizenship) myself. First and foremost: everyone was very nice to me. I didn't get any grief from anyone about my little EU flag in a flower pot (I couldn't resist that) or the fact that I'm German.
But one situation recurred over and over and it made me a bit sad: whoever I spoke to, their first question would always be "where are you from"? I'm sure it was meant in a nice way and often just a way of making conversation, but it showed me that where I am from was the defining aspect of me to everybody I met. It means that I will never truly belong. I will always be an "other".
This never happens in London. Where somebody is from may come up in conversation at some point, but it is never the very first thing you want to know about somebody. My answer should have been of course "from London". But I couldn't bring myself to say that knowing that's not what they meant.
So this is the end of the trip and hence the blog. I am now back in the marina in London and will be working over the winter. I will try and do something similar, though maybe not quite as long next summer. So stay tuned. I may be back on here.
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