What a lovely day it has been here at Norbury today.

The trip boat has been busy operating 1 hour long public trips today. We also had 3 dayboats out first thing.

Denise and Kelly have been kept busy in the tearoom. Lynn has been in the office whilst Lee has been pressure washing a boat on the dry dock and Mick has been working on a private boat. Richard has come in to catch up with some painting on the paint in the wetdock - so a busy day all round really.

Simon is back from holiday tomorrow, so no doubt he will inform with everything that's new with him...

Until next time.

Best regards,

David.

Saturday

It's been a good day here at Norbury today.

It's been dry today and the sun has even shone at times...

We had two dayboats out first thing and we've turned the hire fleet round. Phoebe has had to have a new silencer, which kept Simon out of mischief for a couple of hours. Billy has been in today helping us out and doing the internal checks on the boats whilst Fred has done the pumpouts, diesel etc...

Ange is on holiday - lucky devil, so Lynn has been in the office with me today and Denise and Kelly have been in the tearoom. Mrs Handbag has been cleaning the boats ready for the customers, getting the remainder of the fleet ready and doing the laundry.

Mick is working on a private boat that we have got in for a couple of weeks doing a kitchen refit.

I've got the webcam working again, so don't forget to have a look and see what we are all upto! Visit www.norburywharfltd.co.uk. Don't forget to use the username: guest and password: guest.

Don't forget that The Shropshire Star will be operating hour long public trips tomorrow from here. Departing 11:00, 12:30, 14:00 and 15:30.

Best regards,

David

Wowcher

Following the problems that Wowcher had with their website yesterday they have relisted our offer on The Shropshire Star here.

Wowcher

It's live!

 

£19 instead of £42 for a 3-hour canal cruise for 2 inc. fish and chips each on the Shropshire Union Canal with Norbury Wharf Ltd - save 55%

 

Full details here.

Well Mick and I succeeded with the breakdown that we had last night. Unfortunately Sphynx's gearbox decided to give up the ghost at Stretton Aqueduct. It hasn't shown any signs of loosing drive, but it appears that the clutch pack has failed. We moved the boat down to Wheaton Aston and I had a new gearbox delivered today, which as I write Simon is fitting and we will get someone to bring the boat back. The customers had to get off home so I organised respective taxis for them.

It's been a gorgeous day here at Norbury today. The sun has been shining and everyone has got cheery smiles on their faces.

Joyce has been busy in the tearoom today, whilst Ange and I have been in the office. Simon has done some jobs on a few private boats, fitted the gearbox to Sphynx and welded some anodes onto the boat on the dry dock. Steve has been in today doing some varnishing for me whilst Mick has been finishing off some odd private jobs before starting on a galley refit.

Fancy a trip on the Shropshire Union Canal? Our 42 seater passenger trip boat will be operating four; 3 hour long trips, throughout July (in addition to the 1 hour long public trips on a Sunday) with Fish and Chips served onboard. Further details can be found on our website www.norburywharfltd.co.uk. Tomorrow we are offering a discount on Wowcher www.wowcher.co.uk - so don't miss out, sign up and benefit from all of their great offers...

That's all from me today.

Best regards,

David.

We had three dayboats go out first thing today and two hire boats turn round along with the Holiday Cottage.

Monday's always seem to be busy and today has been no exception, we have been run off our little feet! Joyce and I have been in the office, Denise in the tearoom, Lynn cleaning the boats and the cottage whilst Mick has been turning the boats round and doing some work on a private boat. Lee had to leave early today, so he pumped the boats out etc. blacked the boat on the dry dock and got going.

The Shropshire Star; our 42 seater passenger trip boat, is gaining interest by the day. Full details are available on our website www.norburywharfltd.co.uk and I have now started a Facebook page which you are welcome to view www.facebook.com/theshropshirestar - don't forget to LIKE our page for regular updates...

Sorry for the short blog, but I'm off to a breakdown!

Until tomorrow, David.

The Shropshire Star

The Shropshire Star has now got her very own Facebook page. I will be keeping it up-to-date with news, events and special cruises throughtout the year. Visit the page here https://www.facebook.com/theshropshirestar and don't forget to LIKE it for regular updates...

It's been a fairly busy day here today, three dayboats out first thing and two hire boats turning round. Simon has been fitting new stern gear to the boat on the dry dock, Mick has been to a breakdown and doing turnrounds whilst Fred has turned the boats round and blacked the boat on the dock.

Don't forget that The Shropshire Star is running 1 hour long public trips tomorrow. Departure times: 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm and 3.30pm. No need to pre-book, just turn up and book in at reception...

That's all from me for today.

Regards,

David.

Welcome home

As Simon has already told you, I have been away on holiday boating with some friends.

We left Enfield on the River Lee on the morning of Monday 10th June, heading across the Duckett's Cut (Hertford Union Canal), along the Regents Canal, across the Paddington arm and onto the Grand Union. The first night we tied above Widewater lock, Harefield. Next day saw us to Berkhamsted, then to below Talbot's lock before arriving at Stoke Bruerne in the early afternoon of Thursday. We spent the weekend at the Gala weekend there, seeing many friends and displaying the boats. Monday morning saw us heading through the villages of Blisworth, Bugbrooke, Stowe Hill, Buckby, Braunston and onto our overnight stop at Hillmorton. Next day it was onwards to Alvecote Marina before returning home.

Here's a picture of us slacked at Braunston for supplies with the motor alongside ex-FMC motor boats France and Holland.

A good time was had by all, and it was good to see so many friends, customer's and blog readers alike on my travels. As much as I enjoyed being away, it's now good to be home and getting back into the daily routine here at Norbury. Simon is now away so I'm straight back in at the deep end.

I spent yesterday catching up on news, works and general stuff! It was a good day really, but a really long one! I came into the office before 8am to get my head round things before the rest of the staff came in. I thought the day was going well until I was about to lock up and one of the hire boats called to say they had no power. A quick telephone call to our engineer Simon and I thought it was all going to be sorted. I took Annie out for a walk with her friends Tilly and Dexter and settled down in the Junction to have dinner. How wrong could I be? Simon had got caught in traffic and then dreadfully lost somewhere near Chester. A process of elimination worked out his location and I directed him to Golden Nook moorings which is on the long pound between Beeston and Christleton on the Shroppie. An alternator was needed so I hoped in the Landrover with a replacement. Simon had virtually run out of fuel in his car so whilst he went back to fit the new alternator I headed to Chester to get him some fuel and returned to the boat. We got the boat up and running with power again. Simon followed me back to the main road (so he didn't get lost again) and we headed off home in separate directions. I eventually got back at quarter to midnight, so it was a late one. Yesterday was a real Welcome Home to me - but I'm happy to be home :-)

I've been on emails, website updates etc. today and you will be pleased to know that our WharfCam is back up and running. Please visit our homepage for the link and don't forget to use the Username: guest and Password: guest.

All the best, David.

First charter!

The weather men said that today was going to be the hottest day so far this year and they hit the nail on the head, it has been amazing here today, by 10.30 this morning the heat and humidity was nearly unbearable, I am not moaning, far from it!

Very busy day here today also, four day boats out this morning, an undocking, a docking and as well as the constant stream of boats on the wharf for services we also had 26 children and the teachers turn up at ten o'clock from Newstead primary school to go out on the first charter trip on Shropshire Star today, as you know we have been promoting the trip boat as a charter boat as well and although the bookings have not been flying through the door we are getting enquiries weekly now, so today was our very first charter, and all of the little folk boarded safely, Will (big Will not little Will) was captain and Mike was crew, they set off with lots of smiley faces heading for Shebdon which is the two hour cruise, they all returned (thankfully) with even bigger smiling faces, our first charter and a sucess!!

Works are progressing well on the boat that Richard is painting in the newly constructed inner painting booth, which has left Simon to crack on with fitting a cylinder head to one of our moorers boats and Lee has been pressure washing yet another boat that is on the dry dock for blacking, new stern tube and shaft and a long list of other jobs!

That's it from me for the next week or so as I am off on holiday for a few days and also doing lots of jobs around home, I will leave you in the very capable hands of David who will no doubt entertain you with tales of his boating holiday!

Regards
Simon

started off very quiet

we had 2 day boats out this morning which was a bit surprising as it was fathers day and the fact that we have no space left in june at all, however they both returned without issues and had a very enjoyable day.
we had a very quiet start to the day today that obviously doesn't go down very well with simon, he doesn't work weekends very often but when he does we are never as busy as normal, he says you keep telling me you are busy and i can quite clearly see that you are not, we need to look at the situation and send some of the girls home. well denise had 1/2 days holiday and tash went home at 2pm. this just left lyn, sylvia and myself....then the flood gates opened.
simon popped out for an hour, i had a phone at each ear, the day boats returned and moored in the trip boats space, both day boats needed checking and cleaning, a customer wanted to book a day boat and lots of customers wanting to pay for ice creams. when i eventually got round to helping sylvia in the kitchen it took lyn, sylvia and myself until 5.30 to get all washed up and everything put away before mrs tupp gets back in the morning otherwise we will be in trouble, well that's all for today, short blog sorry, until next time byeeee ange.

Friday 14th

Just your average sort of day here at the Wharf, its been turnaround day,  we had three boats returned to us this morning all with happy holiday makers aboard, of which none wanted to go home, all had a very enjoyable time. We had three day boats out this morning, thankfully without incident and three returned again without incident, and the one that had a bit of water in yesterday all seemed fine, so i can only guess that the people on board yesterday had done something to cause the problem! other than that its been a relatively quiet day here, so on that note I will go home, early for a change this week!

Simon

Hot n cold

Sometimes I wish this weather would make its mind up, one minute the sun is shining and the next its cold and wet, I could even see my breath at one point when it was throwing it down!

Anyway its been a busy few days here, so I apologise for the lack of blogs again, David is away and when you are a man down do you feel it at the busy times, he is off boating with friends on the Grand Union canal, no doubt he will have a tale or two to write about upon his return, as I said its been a busy few days, the lads have been extremely busy, Richard with the preparation of a boat that is having a 'Norbury makeover' Simon has been making side doors all week, they are like buses you don't see any for ages and then they all come at once, he has had three sets to fabricate, as well as seeing the day boats in and out, Bernard has been finishing off lots of niggling jobs on boats that are being collected this weekend, o9nes we have sold and have been worked on or private boats that have been in for some work.

The day boats returned with only one small incident, they broke a boat pole, now under normal circumstances I would have charged them but seeing as the steerer of the one boat had proposed marriage whilst cruising down the canal I didn't have the heart to upset their day (I must be going soft), when they came back they were both beaming with smiles, we shook hands and I wished them a happy time, good luck to them!

So its been a nice day, no real issues apart from the odd blocked toilet, a dodgy water pump on  hire boat, oh a sinking day boat (nothing serious) a couple of day boats colliding with other boats (we really try hard to make the steerers get the hang of it before we jump off) Big apology to anyone today that came in to contact with one of the boats!

Until tomorrow
Simon

Very lacks

I do apologise for the lack of postings over the last week, and weekend, It has been very busy indeed and there has not been enough time to do much, thanks to Ange for posting something last night to show that we are still here and haven't forgotten! I suspect the reason for being sooooooooo busy is down to this incredible weather, it has been fantastic and as I type the blog it still very sunny indeed, the sort of night a cool beer would go down well!

Today has been a busy day, No Angela or David today, just me and Joyce in the office and Denise in the Tearoom so we have been kept on our toes, the usual stuff has been going on today, with a couple of day boats out, a boat being prepared in the wet dock by Richard, Steve has been erecting an inner dock to make the paint jobs even better, Mick has done all sorts of stuff, seeing day boats out, turning hire boats around and doing jobs on several private boats dotted about here and there, Archie has been cracking on with a small revamp job and Lee has been cleaning out an engine room and doing pump outs and diesel.

That's it from me I might have a beer on my way home.
Simon

it's been an ice cream day today

it has been a really busy day here at norbury today. we had 3 day boats go out first thing this morning, all returned with happy peeps aboard who have had a really good day. we have 3 day boats out every day now for the rest of june :-)
i have done a couple of holiday bookings today and also a couple of day boat bookings and a booking on the trip boat for november.......yay. the trip boat has also been successful today. a lot of our customers today got fed up with waiting in the queue for the air show at cosford so decided to come to norbury instead.
david and mike have been sorting out the microphone on the trip boat so that we can do our hi de hi talk along the way, lee has been busy strimming the lawn and very busy on the wharf with diesel, gas and pump outs.
well the tea room has been something else............mega busy. normally we don't get busy in the tea room until about 11 o'clock on a sunday, the day boaters all wanted tea and coffee before they left and that seemed to set the trend for the rest of the day, the smell of bacon cooking bought everyone in which left denise, lynn, tash, mrs handbag and me flat out for the rest of the day.
as the title suggests it has been an ice cream day, we have sold tons of it, i must have filled the freezers up 10 times today but thankfully we haven't sold out, i'll never live that down.
that's it from me for now, i didn't realise the lads hadn't posted in a while, don't worry i'll keep you up to date, until next time...........byeeeeeeeeeeeee ange.

WOW

I Can hardly believe the difference in the weather, only last week it was horrible and now look at it, the weekend saw lovely weather and I honestly thought that it wouldn't last but today its been even hotter, no wind, a superb day for boating or just idling away time by the water with a cool beer, perfect, well you can do all of that down here at Norbury, just like so many people have been doing today!

It hasn't been a very busy day today, but we have seen a few folks taking advantage of this fantastic weather, Only one day boat out today and needless to say that they had a fantastic time, we have a couple of boats out tomorrow and then the three boats are out solid back to back until some time in July, so if you are thinking of having a day boat get in quick as July is now booking up; saying that it hasn't been busy doesn't mean we sit around with nothing to do, in fact I have sold one boat, had some serious interest in two more boats, so not too bad a day! Mick has been stripping the next boat in the paint dock that Richard will weave his magic over, talking of Richard he has been preparing the boat prior to painting it, Steve has been erecting a new inner dock in the paint dock, this is going to be Richards new home so to speak, we are making a sterile painting booth for doing the boats so that we can heat the area a lot better and keep it dust free(hopefully) and young Lee has been blacking, turning boats around and tidying up the boats in the basin after they had all been returned on Saturday and sort of dumped!

I'm off home now to enjoy the rest of this wonderful weather in the garden.
Simon