Well peeps what has happened since our last blog. Well lots of boats as you would expect with some very unusual ones. The most unusual being a Spoon Dredger being moved from the Black Country Museum to Rose Narrowboats where I understand it will be refurbished. I'll keep my eye on this project and report back at a latter date.
This is a dredging tool literally shaped like a giant spoon which would have two burly fellow's heaving on the handle end, with the assistance of a small crane and scooping, or spooning, the mud etc out of the canal.
We've had a couple of unintentional swimmers who thought the bank was closer than it was, but thankfully both were recovered with only a loss of dignity and the need for clean underwear. As one of the boats passed through the lock a young lady wrapped in a towel was espied through the window. I enquired if she was OK after her unscheduled immersion only to be told it wasn't her she just liked to have a shower. No wonder they were on the water point for such a long time.
I have completed the renovation of the late Charlie Barratt's bench and hope it is to the families satisfaction.
Before After
Spent the last couple of Friday's working with one of our new lockies Vince. Absolutely top man but with one problem. His wife. Let me explain, Vince's wife bakes exceedingly good cakes, but as we approach August 18th, our Macmillan coffee(less) morning, all of us other lockies are trying out our own bakes. Consequently Friday has now changed from Golden Windlass Friday to Bake Off Friday and if we are not careful we could end up the fattest lock keepers on the Oxford canal.
Also passing through this week were dear old Tim and Prue. An example to us all that boating keeps you young.
And Finally. A lady came up to the locks in advance of her boat and presumably her husband, approached yours truly and said "Where do you want me". I had to restrain myself and suggested to her that we got the boat in the lock first.
See you next time peeps.
