Over T'hills

The beginning of April found the first day that both myself and Derby had been off work since October last year.

Derby arrived at the boat with his mobile welding equipment, and within a few hours, I had the rear hatch fixed, and the doors fixed, with nice stainless hinges, plus storm flaps so that the engine room would not fill with water every time it rained.  Now all I need is a nice warm day to spend painting them.

We had a nice leisurely journey over the Pennines, starting at Stalybridge Buffet bar.  Superb braised brisket in a bun, and a couple of pints of beer.

Next stop was Marsden, over the canal and down the hill to the Riverhead brewery tap. I think this is the first warm sunny day of the year, and it is great to be out in the countryside.

We stopped next at Dewsbury and the West Riding refreshment rooms.  I was surprised that they only had three beers on on a Friday.

Last stop in Leeds, we went down to the canal where the L&L finishes, and chatted to people with a boat, a dutch barge and two kittens before trying a couple in the Osset brewery Hop.  Just in time, and serves me right for thinking about the weather, as it threw it down for ten minutes while we were having a pint.

Next we called in at the Leeds brewery tap.  Our food order never appeared, and the barman who took the order said he was too busy to do anything about it.  If you have a bar, the people you employ are the "face" of your company.  So when you employ staff who do not give a toss about customers, then this reflects on your company.

I wont bother going to the Leeds Brewery tap again.

I managed to get the shower sump box in and connected. The problem is that the entry into the box is near the top of the box, so the water sits in the pipe between the shower tray and the sump.  This is probably designed for people 5 foot 8 or shorter, so you can put the shower tray a few inches above the floor.  I will have to think about this.
I started on some lining out of the Engine Bay.  I built up the set for the door, and started a wooden framework for the removable flooring panels which will hold soundproofing to enclose the engine.  Hopefully this will leave the engine on tick-over as a nice quiet murmur.

Breakdown

I finally got back on the boat! Having earned some Money, I now have a calorifier and Waste tank.

I have also now wired up the engine bilge pumps (three, as the bilge in this boat is in three sections!), so at last the water in the bilge is ejected.

Speedfit fittings mean it only takes a couple of hours to complete the plumbing of the boat.

 I've just spent £160 in plumbing fittings though, so it isn't cheap, but the speedfit are the best, and I don't want to have to come back and repair this later.

All the tails are in place ready for the sink, washing machine, shower, etc. In addition I have also put a hot and cold tap in the engine room.

I was supposed to see Steeleye Span at the Lowry, but my car stopped on the motorway.  It was too late to get there by public transport.  The following day I found that a Turbo Hose had split.  £4.00 for a short length of pipe and the car was good as new.  It cost me £18 in Front Row Steeleye Span tickets though :-(







I got back to Manchester on the Thursday evening and wandered down the canal to Dukes for a couple of pints before going to the Lowry to see the amazing Sad Cafe.  Brilliant.