Time slips by, the leaves turn golden brown and start to fall and this year’s hire-boating season comes to an end.
Red Sky at night
The seasonal staff start to depart for pastures new, ranging from Mexico to the Midlands.
Those left are counting the days, but for the engineering staff, boat-fitters and painters new jobs are beginning.
Three new shells have arrived from Colecraft and already the fitting out, painting and engine fitting has begun and we are over-run with extra carpenters (or are they boat-fitters?) It’s going to be a busy winter I think!
We continue to learn more and more about the canal community and have found that “Dusty” is something of an institution on the Oxford Canal, Mark Boardman (07986 189 074) delivers coal, gas and diesel, by narrowboat, up and down the Oxford in all winds and weathers, and picks up his deliveries at the wharf fortnightly. So here’s this month’s feature, a fully loaded Dusty setting off on his rounds.
We are starting to make friends and contacts in the local community, both through work and through the local church at Heyford Park Chapel (on the old Upper Heyford air base) a lively group from diverse backgrounds who have made us very welcome.
Our house has had a buyer who then promptly dropped out (whoever buys a house without a firm job offer!) so it’s back on the market again
Oh well, I wonder what we’ll be doing at Christmas.
It’s now almost two months since I started work at Oxfordshire Narrowboats and must admit to enjoying the new-found variety in my work. I am now not only an engineer and auto-electrician but (apparently) also a plumber, carpenter and central heating engineer not to mention narrowboat-handler.
However… I’m enjoying myself immensely, especially when I get the chance to go on ‘call outs’ when I can get really immersed in a job (not literally… yet! )
I have a great team of colleagues (all barking mad of course, they’re boaters!) working with & around me, this is especially true on ‘hand-over’ days when the boats have to be emptied, cleaned and serviced in the space of about four hours come rain or shine so as to be ready for their next hirers. This means that cleaners, engineers, poo tank empty-ers et al trying not to fall over each other in the rush!
We are discovering the local pubs around the area and are lucky to have our local, The Bell within a short walk. The Barley Mow at Upper Heyford does good home-cooked food too and The Rock of Gibraltar has a Greek landlord and we are looking forward to sampling some Greek food on Joy’s birthday next week.
Now how *does* it all go back together?
Yesterday I got the chance to work on a boat in Little Venice, a wonderful leafy oasis near Paddington in Central London, Joy helped me navigate in and out of the big city and we arrived back at Heyford at about 8pm and arrived back in Dursley, for my days off at about quarter to eleven, a tiring but satisfying day!
We’ve now been at Heyford Wharf for nearly two weeks now and life is certainly not dull!
I had intended to start work on August 3rd, but as Sam, the other engineer there was going on holiday to Canada on the 4th for 3 weeks it was deemed a ‘good idea’ if I started on the previous Friday so at least he could give me a brief ‘induction’.
Since then I’ve serviced engines, attended breakdowns, drilled out broken glow plugs, refitted a ‘cilled’ rudder and fitted new engine mounts to a boat on the Thames at Radcot. Oh yes AND tried to get my new ‘Electrical Workshop’ set up.
The entrance to my new Electrical Workshop
Monday afternoon David, ‘The Boss’ popped into the workshop and said ” I wonder if you could do me a favour?” He needed on of his dayboats brought back from Thrupp to the wharf and asked Joy & me if we could do it. It’s amazing what confidence people have in my boating ability considering my lack of experience! Thrupp to Heyford is a mere 8 miles but with 5 locks and a maximum speed of 4 mph it takes 4½ hours, so it was getting dark by the time we got back to base after leaving Thrupp at 5:15pm. Joy described it as a steep learning curve, was that something to do with stepping off the boat to moor up when it was still moving & landing head first in the hedge? (She said something about me going too fast!)
She didn’t drop the mooring rope though… Good Girl!!!
Today will be the last day for me at Wren Autolectrics before I close it down & start my new job at Oxfordshire Narrowboats. I’m picking up a van this evening and a few friends from church are coming to help me load the equipment I’m taking to Heyford Wharf tomorrow. On Thursday Joy & I will move up there and live in our newly acquired caravan temporarily.
Next Monday I officially start my new job so yesterday we said our goodbyes to church friends at Cam and Wotton receiving many hugs, handshakes & good wishes, we also warned them not to think that they had seen the last of us, “as we’ll be back” because we’ll still have to keep an eye on the house until that elusive buyer comes along.
So it’s all exciting stuff, tinged with a little sadness at closing the business I started over 25 years ago and moving away from our lovely friends.
Things have been happening fast since last weekend! Last Thursday I noticed a post on Canal World Forums saying there was seasonal work available at Oxfordshire Narrowboats base at Heyford Wharf helping to clean and re-stock their boats when they come off of hire, to prepare them for the next hirers, to show the new customers around the boat and give them some instruction in boat handling. As my regular work is quiet at the moment I decided to give it a go.
By Saturday I had an interview, been offered the job and was sat down with a cold drink in the sunshine taking to Joy about it when the manager came back and asked if ‘The Boss’ could have a word with me too, he had read my application and within a few minutes I had been offered an engineers job with them too!
So decisions have been made and I am closing down my business and hope to be starting a new career in the canal boat industry next month.
Yesterday afternoon we went to check out the surrounding towns & villages ending up for a meal in the Boat Inn at Thrupp where we had the pleasure of meeting the famous Bones and her neighbour Maffi.
In pursuit of our dream of a life on board a narrowboat we are selling our 3 bedroom semi-detched house in Dursley, Gloucestershire and the latest step in our marketing campaign is that we are holding an Open House day on Saturday 11th July, 2009.
It’s a well built 1960s semi and it’s chain free! Because we will be moving onto a boat the majority of the furniture & appliances will be available by negotiation making an ideal option for first time buyers or investors wanting to ‘buy to rent’.
Prospective buyers are invited to contact us or our Estate Agents, Bennett Jones to make an appointment and we will be accepting offers from people who are in a position to proceed with the purchase within a very short space of time.
As it was Fathers Day and we had been allowed to look after two of our grandchildren for the weekend whist their parents went to a beer festival we took them to Purton on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal for a picnic down by ‘The Hulks‘ which are on the river bank next to the canal.
We were joined by our son & daughter-in-law who had just about recovered from the beer festival and they came bearing gifts and also seemed to have laid on a visit from two of the Tall Ships returning from the festival at Gloucester a couple of weeks ago. That’s a sight you wouldn’t see on many other canals in the country!
Had a great day out today with a group of friends from church on Sally Narrowoats’ Day Boat based from Bradford on Avon Marina, we made it down as far as Claverton swing bridge & back stopping for a super on-board picnic lunch along the way at Dundas (everybody brought something to share) and tea & home made scones on the way back.
Absolutely Quackers!
Can really recommend Sally Narrowboats Day Boat, nice little boat which handled easily and was well equipped for the 10 of us, friendly service & they didn’t shout at us for being half an hour late getting back (queue at Bradford Lock)
Oh yes and one of their staff has a pet duck who came to work with him!
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