Only 3 Inches thick!!

The ice is only three inches thick but it takes some breaking, We have had to dock a couple of boats today which meant that i had to spend a couple of hours in the snow on the back of a day boat ice breaking, it is hard work and it takes all of the blacking off the hull and the noise that the prop makes chopping through the ice is horrendous! When the canal had working boats using it the canal companies had to keep the canal clear of ice and this was done with a horse drawn ice breaker with a team of horses and a team of men, they would stand either side of a bar running down the length of the boat rocking it back and forth as the horses pulled the boat along, often riding up on to the ice before it eventually broke, now that must have been hard work! You don't see that sort of ice breaking anymore! Both boats finally under the cover of the dry dock, we are fortunate that we can have two boats in our dry dock as it is a wide dock.

Its snowing like mad here and the temperature has dropped a lot since this morning so i would imagine that the roads will be bad tonight. This weather makes moving boats around very dangerous and Paul has all ready slipped today, fortunately only his leg went into the water and not all of him. Poor Bernard is fitting an engine today and hasn't got much in the way of cover, i suspect he will look like a snowman by the time he finishes today. Paul is still winterising boats and draining systems down, Fred is cleaning the two boats down in the dry dock, ready for some paint, Ange is paining the office, Amanda is still sorting through the chandlery and i have been showing people around a boat, you wouldn't believe that people would be looking at boats in this weather but they are!

As promised here are a couple of shots of Norbury from the office door this morning(you don't think I'm going out there taking pictures do you)

Until tomorrow

Simon

Its getting colder

It is amazing just how cold it has been this weekend and its getting colder! The thermometer topped a new low this year at an amazing -13 here at Norbury, it goes with out saying that the canal is well and truly frozen over,it has been reported that it could drop to -20 this week, i have seen it down to -16 here in the past, David reported that the shops water had frozen, the toilets froze over the weekend and just about ever thing froze! Every boat that we have here is frozen in solid now and this weather will have frozen any boats water system if it hasn't been either drained or protected, There will be a lot of broken boats out there when the thaw comes. We have several boats out at the moment, one has abandoned his break and is leaving the boat until the thaw, worryingly we have not heard from our hire rs so they could be stuck anywhere!

I have had a good weekend down in Southampton which was no where near as cold as up here! I was very pleased upon my return to see that the new office and chandlery are looking superb, well done to everyone who has put loads of effort into making such a good job! Amanda has been busy today painting the floor in the chandlery and the walls in the office, Jay has not been on his usual cooking duties all day but has been going through the chandlery and having a good sort out, we have all been trying to stay in the warm, poor old Paul has been outside most of the day though, i hope he has a nice big fire to go home to, Mick has been on a break down to a 1.5 BMC that would not start, Lee has been putting the finishing touches to the boat that he is painting, i have to praise him as he does do a very good job.

We have a new name here now, his name is James, he has worked here once before on a work experience scheme and he Is now the replacement for Dean who has disappeared of the face of the planet!

While typing this Eddie from the fisheries which is a large trout pool just down the road has just popped in for his diesel for his generator and reported the the thermometer was reading -15 last night, I said it was going colder!

I will take some pictures tomorrow of the place covered in its snowy blanket (it was too cold this morning)

Until Tomorrow
Simon

Brass monkey's!

It was certainly a cold one last night. Reports say that it dropped to -11°C (I can believe it!). I have never known our water to freeze within the buildings here at Norbury, but the only tap that seems to be producing water this morning is in Wharf Cottage.

That's the cottage that we do B&B in and also holiday lets. It's very popular during the summer months, but bookings do quieten down during the winter. It's really cosy in there with the oil fired central heating on and a fire roaring up the chimney whilst you look out over the canal basin and open fields.

The lanes are treacherous, so I very much doubt if we will be busy in the shop and tea room today, although saying that we have been in previous spells of bad weather!

Here's a couple of pictures that I took this morning before the sun was breaking through.




Well, we really did make good headway with the chandlery and the office yesterday and things are really coming together now. Mandy's doing sterling work sorting through a big pile of chandlery and putting it into some order on the shelves. We've had nothing but good comments from our customers that have been in since we started the refit, so for those of you that haven't managed to get to see us. Here's some of what your missing!

Firstly the new Chandlery Department...



Dedicated area for stoves, chimneys and accessories


And our new office!


Now there's just the dreaded yellow to get rid off. Whoever would of dreamt of painting walls yellow. I ask you, any colour but yellow! Must of been round the twist...

Simon told you about the new boat that was delivered by road on Thursday which came from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Well I need to get her advertised today, so keep an eye on our website for updates.

Paul's keeping busy out on the yard to keep warm! Steve is going to finish the shelves off in the office today and Mick's just off out to deliver some coal in Gnosall.

You'd be surprised how many coal deliveries we actually do by road as we do free delivery on ten bags or more within a ten mile radius. Our coal prices are advertised on our website here. We used to deliver by water too, but when I sold Hyperion back in February it left us without a carrying boat. I do miss coaling by boat, because even before I came to Norbury it was something that I did on a weekly basis throughout the winter.

Here's me steering the Midlands and Coast motor boat Jubilee loaded with 20 tonnes of domestic pre packed fuel for local distribution at Bugbrooke on the Grand Union Canal back in 2002.


'Tis time for breakfast now and a hot cup of coffee, then get some office work done!

Bye for now.

David.

Snowy Saturday

Well, it was a bit of a surprise when I got up this morning to see snow everywhere!

This was the scene as I walked down the arm this morning.


And this was the view from the bridge looking over the basin.


Some of the snow had defrosted earlier, but it has started to freeze hard again now (@ 15:50). Weather reports say that it is going to get down to -6°C tonight, which could make things a bit slippery for the morning!

We've been busy sorting the shop and office out today, it's really started to come together and will look the part!

Paul has been busy draining down our boats that aren't going out within the next two weeks and has left the heating running on the boats that are due to go out shortly to prevent burst pipes. The weather forecast is for these Arctic conditions to continue at least for another two weeks. That's something to look forward to... I must admit that I do like the snow and the ice to a certain extent, but it isn't any fun to be working or travelling in.

Working in ice and snow is something we have to take into consideration with all of our staff. It's so easy to slip on gunnels and land in icy cold water. So this slows jobs down, as it takes two people just to move a boat from A to B (that's something we do regularly!) in case one of them slips into the canal.

David

Bitterly cold Friday

It went really cold last night and it has been seriously cold here today, leaving home this morning it was -5 and it has not got above freezing all day but the sun has been shining. This weather plays havoc with the water taps on the wharf and the pump out hose thus making the turnarounds hard work, we have had four boat being collected today so poor old Fred has been very cold today doing his turnaround duties. Here are a couple of shots of the boats at 9.00 am this morning
The little springer is now water tight again as all the plating is complete, we have even managed to get a coat of black on it today, she will have another coat of black and then she will be lifted back into the water next week. Paul has been busy all day with draining the boats down as its going to be another cold night tonight.

The chandlery is looking more like a chandlery rather than a bomb site but the office is far from finished, more pictures once its looking a bit better.

I will have to stop typing as i cant feel my fingers now as David has turned the heater off as he is using the socket for his drill to put the new wall coverings up!! So until I'm off home, until Monday.

Simon

Freezing day

As the title suggests, its been freezing here today at Norbury and we now have ice on the canal!
Work has continued regardless and will do even when we have to start breaking the ice to move boats around, hopefully it wont freeze to hard just yet, the forecasters did say that it was on its way and they werent wrong!
Work on the office and chandlery is progressing and i reckon another couple of weeks and we should be sorted
Some of the owners of Sillhoutte came down today to check on the works to their boat and were more than happy with the progress
Lee has been busy putting on the top coats on to the boat in the dock and that is coming along nicely, it should all be finished by the middle of next week
The plating is nearly finished on the Springer and providing the snow keeps off we should have that blacked and finished by next week and back in the water and while all this was going on a new boat arrived today to be craned in to the water
this is another one to go on to brokerage to be sold, keep your eye on our website for the details. Im sat in the office just waiting for the alarm engineer to come and move the alarm box, everyone else has gone home now and its very quiet here all by my self. Until tomorrow. Simon

Mahem

As the title suggests, its been mayhem for the last few days, we are having a re vamp and moving the office and chandlery around, its been a bit quiet aver the last couple of days which is a good thing considering the mess of the place, when its all done the place will be getting a new lick of paint and then some fresh stock ready for the new season, the picture opposite shows the new office still under construction, the yellow WILL be going!!!!Jay doing something other than cooking in the tea room, he does do a superb breakfast!

As you can see, the place needs some sorting out, hopefully it will be somewhere close by the weekend.

The weather has gone very cold and there was some ice on the canal this morning, i will take some photos tomorrow so watch this space,

Until tomorrow.
Simon