Down in the Bilge

On Sunday, I managed to get to the boat for the afternoon. A boat had appeared beside me, by the looks of it they have a bit of work to do.

I now have a checklist of jobs for when I get to the boat, and this saves me spending the first hour wandering around wondering where I had got up to the last time I was here!  The first job was to wire up the bilge pump and bilge alarm. Ten minute job ?

By the time I had grovelled in the bilge under then Engine long enough to get the pump and alarm sensor in, and run the wires in a protective cover clear of the prop, then an hour and a half had gone!

Wiring the panel up was reletively easy, it is easier to wire when standing upright, rather than dangling upside down under an engine.  The panel is now complete, other than one additional switch I will fit to isolate the battery alarm while starting the engine.

I carried on tidying all the cabling away down the length of the boat, when I ran out of cable ties (again).

Snott in ham

It was "cultural Exchange" time at work again, this time we thought we would try the Midlands, so Nottingham came to mind.
To quote ISIHAC

 Nottingham, formerly Snottingham - "home of the Snotts".  The S was dropped and the town became known as Nottingham - A move widely resisted by the residents of Scunthorpe

Just up from the station, there is the church of St Mary the Virgin.

Down the side of this on there is Castle Rock's new bar, the Keans Head.  Great atmosphere, Great Beer and Great food.  We could quite well have stayed in here all day!






Never mind, other places to see.  Around the corner is the Cock and Hoop, where we had some stale and sour beer that none of us finished

There is loads of great architecture in Nottingham, a throwback to the days when it was a flourishing trade centre.

Next stop was the Bell Inn.  The sign outside proclaims "Nottinghams oldest Inn"

Walking back to the main road "Maid Marion way" we spotted an interesting pub.  This looked extremely narrow and quirky, so we thought we would investigate. The  pub is somewhat "work in progress" but what a great bar, a good selection of beer, great food, and a great atmosphere.














Next stop was the Old Trip to Jerusalem, proclaiming "the Oldest Inn in England".  So, Nottingham isn't England, or the Trip isn't in Nottingham?

















Last couple of stops were the Fellows Morton & Clayton, followed by the canalhouse.

Finaaly back to Nottingham Station for the Journey home.

A Capital Day

A few of us went down to London for the GBBF Trade day.  It was almost impossible to get to Kensington Olympia due to all the pink tabard-wearing morons who couldn't get a grasp of the idea that I AM NOT GOING TO THE OLYMPICS.

"Olympics this way"
"I AM NOT GOING TO THE OLYMPICS"
"You are going the wrong way, the olympics are this way..."
"I AM NOT GOING TO THE OLYMPICS"
"Olympics this way"
"I AM NOT GOING TO THE SODDING OLYMPICS"

After about an hour of conversations like this with the volunteer idiots, I finally got to Kensington and to the GBBF.

 which was a bit boring this year.

There seemed to be more food stalls than beer stalls, and the beer range seemed to be exactly the same as the beers from last year.

There were pink pigs,





but I preferred Hogsback Brewery's Green Hog...

We left Olympia and met up with Q for a couple of beers in the Cask and Glass, great pub,

 then a couple of refreshers in the Shakespear, just accross from Victoria Station.

I don't think I've ever seen the outside of Victoria Station before.  Pretty Impressive.

Stupid Fish

Grabbed a quick day off up the Lakes.  Having pitched tent, and a superb Ham buttie from the old for sustinence, we decided to go up Side Pike.  Normally you go up to Blea Tarn and up the path to the rear of the pike.  However, we aren't normal.

What followed was a full frontal assault, up the northern front, followed by a free climb up the rock face at the top.

Great views over Langdale all the way up.

The top of the pike is a proper pinnacle.

Once over the top, there is a great view over Blea Tarn, and the path we were supposed to follow

 

Hi Mandy, hope you are OK. Good to hear somebody is reading this stuff!

Just found a reference on Wikepedia :

 Side Pike (362 m, 1,187 ft) ...is a fine rock tower that is only accessible from the west and south. Walkers wishing to visit Side Pike from Lingmoor Fell are blocked by unassailable crags and must traverse round to easier slopes to the south.

Oops!

Never mind, we got back to the Old, and washed a Lamb Shoulder down with a pint or twelve of the Yates Bitter.

Manchester Canals

The bus got into Manchester a bit early on Monday, so I had half an hour to wait for a train.  The sun had got his hat on, so I decided to walk from Ancoats down the Rochdale canal.

This is where the Rochdale canal meets the Ashton Canal, just under Ducie Street, where I leave to get to Piccadilly station

Down south to the Mutual, and they have a great Ploughmans on the menu