Harry,
Here is another for you, Conways Garage originally at Fighting ■■■■■ Wolverhampton and now at the Black Country Museum.
WOW is like going back in time to the 1930’s-50’s !!!
Just a quick update, I’m going up to the boat tomorrow with my boy, we’re going to cruise into the centre of Coventry, then wind and go up to the end of the Ashby Canal, before winding again and returning to our mooring at Brinklow. The last trip we did was hard work, we did 105 locks in a week, on this trip we only have one stop lock to do each way. I’ll post some pics when we’re done.
He’s going home on the train on Friday, and I’m staying on the boat for the foreseeable future. I’ve SORN’d my truck, I might sell it if I can get a half-decent price, otherwise I’m hoping to be able to park it up for a couple of years, Magnums already are a far rarer sight than when I started out four years ago and I’d like to see it go for preservation (like my last two cars did).
I will have to work at some point, but there is a ton of work around there (Magna Park is only 8 miles from my mooring) so I’ll look for some agency work, my living costs will be fairly minimal so three or four days a week should be enough if that includes weekends.
Anyone who wants to pop along to the mooring for a nose round or a cruise sometime is welcome!
It was something Mr Albion and I always wanted to do, one of those things that we never got round to and then he got ill and died ( few years back )- moral as ever, do things whilst you can.
Hope it works out for you Harry, don’t blame you for hanging up the keys and doing some agency - sometimes think it would be a good idea myself but wouldn’t want to let the lads down.
Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if Magnums go the way of F88/89s. I was at the auction when Smith Bros 88 went for 56k a few years back and remember thinking WTF! Having said that, it was like new, beautiful restoration.
A couple of photos from today, the last one taken about ten minutes ago, we’re in Coventry Basin tonight.
Next month’s trip, leaving on Sunday. If anyone wants to meet up along the way then they’d be welcome.
Have a good one Harry! 
Try and stay out of the pubs along the way! 
Well, we’re only an hour in, and things are interesting already…
A few pics from yesterday. The lockie at Limehouse said “You need your head examining mate”. 
Heading off back to my mooring now, probably take a couple of weeks, then I’ll have to sort out a job I suppose. 
Harry Monk:
A few pics from yesterday. The lockie at Limehouse said “You need your head examining mate”.Heading off back to my mooring now, probably take a couple of weeks, then I’ll have to sort out a job I suppose.
Hi Harry,
I know you from hpc a couple of years ago. Great to see you got the boat!
Harry Monk:
A few pics from yesterday. The lockie at Limehouse said “You need your head examining mate”.
Why, did you blindside it in mate? 
Great pic’s harry, and you’re either a brave man or a nutter, I’m just not sure! 
Hi Harry,
I am seriously thinking of buying or building another narrowboat at present to live on part time as my work is all in the Midlands now and I am fed up with B&B living during the week
, I did the Thames in the nineties in the old 47 footer and loved it and it certainly beats driving a wagon stood on the back deck .
Enjoy your trip.
3 wheeler:
Hi Harry,
I am seriously thinking of buying or building another narrowboat at present to live on part time as my work is all in the Midlands now and I am fed up with B&B living during the week
, I did the Thames in the nineties in the old 47 footer and loved it and it certainly beats driving a wagon stood on the back deck .
Enjoy your trip.
It might make sense. Any secondhand boat bought for around the £25,000- £30,000 mark will always sell for that amount if it’s reasonably well looked after, if anything prices are rising due to the “Tim and Pru effect”, the fact that folk can get their hands on pension money at 55 now, and demand from the increasing number of people living on boats in London because of the property crisis.
I’m living on my boat at the moment, I reckon it costs £2,000 a year in mooring fees, licences, insurance, maintenance etc, about £10 a week in diesel to charge the batteries and provide hot water, and when it gets colder, about £20 a week in coal, so probably about £60 a week in total. And it’s certainly better than any B&B I’ve ever stayed in.
I do still officially live with my girlfriend in Ramsgate as I’m not on a residential mooring (I can stay as much as I like, though I can’t use it as a postal address, but there’s also no council tax to pay), and wages here (between Rugby and Coventry) are at least £2 an hour higher than in east Kent, which more than pays for it all.
I’d be the first to agree it’s not for everyone, but if you’ve had a narrowboat before then you’ll know about the downsides, so it might well be worth considering. If you want to pop along for a look round and a chat sometime then you’re welcome.
Time to wake this thread up after its Winter hibernation. I’m setting off from Rugby to Skipton around mid-day tomorrow, it’s 200 miles and 200 locks and I’m expecting it to take 3-4 weeks, I’ll be going via Nuneaton, Tamworth, Stoke, Stockport, Huddersfield, Leeds, Shipley etc. Along the way I’ll be travelling through Standedge Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in the UK at a shade over 3 miles. After that, who knows?
The diesel tank is full, the water tank is full, the beer locker is full, the fridge is full so I’m sitting quite low in the water. I’ll post some pics here as I go for anyone interested. If anyone wants to visit along the way, then they’re welcome.
Harry Monk:
Time to wake this thread up after its Winter hibernation. I’m setting off from Rugby to Skipton around mid-day tomorrow, it’s 200 miles and 200 locks and I’m expecting it to take 3-4 weeks, I’ll be going via Nuneaton, Tamworth, Stoke, Stockport, Huddersfield, Leeds, Shipley etc. Along the way I’ll be travelling through Standedge Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in the UK at a shade over 3 miles. After that, who knows?The diesel tank is full, the water tank is full, the beer locker is full, the fridge is full so I’m sitting quite low in the water. I’ll post some pics here as I go for anyone interested. If anyone wants to visit along the way, then they’re welcome.
Are you continously cruising now Harry ?
Do you know of any project boats for sale or if you see any post up please .My brothers after one .
Cheers
Beetlejuice:
Are you continously cruising now Harry ?
Do you know of any project boats for sale or if you see any post up please .My brothers after one .
Cheers
I’m not a continuous cruiser in that I have a home mooring (between Rugby and Coventry), I work from September to March and then go boating until the money runs out, I am at Etruria at the moment, heading for Leek on the Caldon Canal. So far this year I have been to Llangollen, Ellesmere Port, Gloucester and Sharpness and I’ll probably head down to London after this.
Two good places to look for boats are facebook.com/groups/4788078 … ?ref=br_rs especially for project boats.
Saw this photo on another website Harry.
Thought it amusing and I did see that your boat is named Desiree, so don’t have ask if it is you.
Have you run across it on your travels.
Just also like to say, that even though I’m long retired and live in Australia, I find your posts a breath of commonsense in the industry, especially for those thinking of starting their own business. I feel it’s a case that you need to live and dream the business, then cost it out, not ist get a truck & just hope for the best -you’ve given sound advice and information.
I’ve seen that boat on the internet but not in real life- I did go past where it apparently moors a couple of years ago but I don’t think it had been converted then. If anyone is interested (and has Facebook) I post pictures of journeys I’m on here…
Harry Monk:
I’ve seen that boat on the internet but not in real life- I did go past where it apparently moors a couple of years ago but I don’t think it had been converted then. If anyone is interested (and has Facebook) I post pictures of journeys I’m on here…
I could very niceley enjoy a few weeks holiday on one of these great vessels, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Harry Monk:
I’ve seen that boat on the internet but not in real life- I did go past where it apparently moors a couple of years ago but I don’t think it had been converted then. If anyone is interested (and has Facebook) I post pictures of journeys I’m on here…I could very niceley enjoy a few weeks holiday on one of these great vessels, Regards Larry.
Probably the best thing to do is get along for a day if I’m ever in your part of the world and see how it goes, if we’re not ripping each other’s throats out at the end of the day then maybe a longer stay would be an option… as I have a non-commercial licence I wouldn’t be allowed to charge anything for this but I suppose an honorary crew member would be allowed to chip in for the diesel and pick up the meal and beer tab as well as operating the locks.