August Bank Holiday weekend and it didn’t rain (much)!

29/08/2010 by admin.

Sunday 29 August 2010

Having had a few hectic weeks (and weekends), Bev and I decided that we deserved a weekend away from it all. Although we had some unpredictable and inclement weather over the past few weeks, the forecast for the August Bank Holiday weekend looked quite promising.

So, with Max (the Labrador), Bev and I set off on Thursday evening for the 200 mile drive to Packet Boat Marina.  Arriving just after 7pm, we unloaded the car and settled in for the evening.  Within an hour the unmistakable tapping on the roof saw the start of downpour.  This continued through the night and into the morning.  Catching up with Carol Kirkwood (BBC weather presenter) who was standing unbrella in hand presenting the BBC weather forecast from a rain-drenched, muddy Reading Festival gave us some hope promising an improiving weather forecast.

As forecast, by lunchtime the rain had ceased and the cloud had lifted - much to the pleasure of Bev who could now see the aircraft landing and taking off from Heathrow.  With a blue-sky forecast for tomorrow (Saturday) and an improving forecast through to Monday (and beyond), we decided to stay put in the marina on Friday and delay our departure until tomorrow.

This then gave me chance to attend to some of the bits and pieces; filling the fuel tank (two trips by car to Uxbridge Boat Centre), adding Redex fuel treatment to the tank, buying 100KG of coal (Homefire Ovals) which are now sitting on the roof and refilling the water tank (after taping up the leaks in the hosepipe which seems to have turned into a colander!).

With plenty of time to spare on Friday, I decided to cook.  Three courses; leeks wrapped in ham with a cheese, creme fraise and mustard sauce, chicken pasta with brocili and a rather indulgent melting chocolate pudding - all washed down with a cheap (not) bottle of plonk (many thanks for the wine Mr Lydon).  Ah well, back to the diet tomorrow

OK, enough of this lazing around, time to set sail.  Saturday morning, and as promised, a cloudless(ish) sky we set off towards Rickmansworth.

First challenge and within 10 minutes of setting off we come across two unoccupied boats tied together but having come adrift and now blocking the canal.  Jumping off the boat at bridge 189 I managed to haul the two boats back to the bankside and secure them with a decent piece of rope.  Clearly the thin plastic rope they had secured them with had worn through - some boaters just need to learn how to moor properly.

An interesting sign - “No fishing between arrows” - Now if I am not mistaken, those arrows are about 6″ apart!

Onwards to Cowley, Uxbridge and Denham Deep - all of which we shared with other boats.

By the time we got to Widewater lock we found we were not only sharing locks, but having to queue.  Clearly the superb weather, coupled with it being a Bank Holiday weekend brought the boaters out en-mass.  Not that any of this was a problem, as it’s great to be able to stop and chat with other boaters and gongoozlers.

King Louie (who we had shared a few locks with) had reached his stop-off point - the Coy Carp at Harefield.

Whilst helping a single-handed boater through Black Jack’s lock, he mentioned that Rickmansworth mooring were rather busy - especially around the Tesco moorings.  This we found out later was probably due to the Real Ale festival being held in Rickmansworth all weekend.

As we were fully stocked up with food and Holy Water (St Ella), we decided not to go all the way to Rickmansworth and stop at the first available mooring after Stocker’s Lock.  So we continued through Copper Mill and Springwell locks - sharing with another 50+ foot narrow boat and a small cruiser.  With it being quite a tight squeeze for all three boats in the lock, Bev helped protect the cruiser from being crushed by 2x 30 tonnes of steel by holding on to their bow handrail.

As we exited Stocker’s lock, there were just two boats moored along the long visible stretch of canal running along the Colne Valley Trail.  Good enough for us.  We moored between the two boats with a 100m separating us.

Having had glorious sunshine for most of the day, and having been cruising for just over 5 hours (a voyage that normally takes no more than four), we were glad to stop and crack open a can of Holy Water.

On Sunday we planned to just stay put.  Catch up with some emails, write the blog and do some reading.

Relax

Posted in Holidays, Voyages | No Comments »

Booze Cruise #12 - Code crawl to the Ingres Users Association 2010

11/06/2010 by admin.

Monday 7th June 2010

On Tuesday 8th June, the UK Ingres Users Association conference 2010 was taking place at the Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London.  With a number of friends and colleagues (some of whom had attended the code sprint in Slough over the weekend) needing to travel to their respective hotels in London, we decided what better a way to travel than along the Grand Union Canal.

After exchanging a number of emails, we had enough interest to start to plan the cruise.  With Matt Rendell not coming up to the grade of Queen he had been demoted from Lord High Admiral to Purser.  Mark Whalley took the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, Paul Lawes as Admiral and Peter Gale as Vice Admiral.  This then left Matt with the task of identifying other crew member; John Mahony, Pete Lydon, Michael Flower (Ingres), Kim Ginnerup and Roy Simon (Bording Data) and Steve Sheil and Hans Scholten (HVR).  With plenty of ranks to hand out; Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant, Sub Lieutenant, Acting Lieutenant, Midshipman, Cadet, Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer, Leading Seaman and Able Seaman he had plenty of choice.

The plan was for Mark to leave the office early, cycling back to Packet Boat Marina then move the boat the 4 miles (~1 hour) to Hayes.  Leaving a bit later, the rest of the crew would take the train from Slough to meet Mark at Hayes from where we would continue on the Grand Union, via Bull’s Bridge to Little Venice.  As with a previous cruise, we had intended to pick up take-away from the Mirch Masala from Southall.

Having already stocked the fridge with Holy Water (St. Ella), wine and water with lemon (for the Purser), on Monday lunchtime a number of us set off for the local Asda supermarket to pick up some bits and pieces.  As we were walking out of the Ingres car park, we met with a very good friend and ex-colleague Jean-Luc Hampton who had just arrived from Paris in his immaculate 28-year old BMW 323.  Having previously experienced the culinary excellence of JL, when he again offered to cook for us, the thought of stopping off at the Mirch Masala was very quickly dismissed.

With our French chef now taking the crew numbers up to 12, Jean-Luc set off for Tesco to stock up with ingredients to prepare for what ended up being yet another masterpiece.

So, with plans finalised, time to set sail…

First priority, adjust the ballast..

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Must phone home for directions.

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At well over 6′, there are not many places John could stand in comfort.

“I’m still in the office dear - honest!”.

Conjestion on the Grand Union.

Now this is how you do it - aim the stick thing this way to make the pointy end to go that way.

Pete, there’s no need to squat over the side, there is a toilet on board!

Is that a tree coming our way.?

A said “DUCK”!

It could have been worse, we might have lost our glasses.

The master chef (Jean-Luc) at work.

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What a masterpiece - Lamb Curry.

… with a prawn and scallop starter.

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Please note, this is Matt without his water, ice and lemon!

Pete and John contemplating something.

The Director of Education (Mr Flower) partaking of some Holy Water.

Sommelier Lydon.

Top Beer.

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Tuck in.

Cheers.

Champagne in one hand, Holy Water in the other.

Returning to Packet Boat the following evening.

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Some of the bird I saw en-route.

Dusk.

.

.

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… and back “home”.

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Is that all that was left

Posted in Booze Cruise #12, Booze Cruise, Voyages, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Day 10 - The Thames Barrier Cruise (and that small boat HMS Illustrious)

09/05/2009 by Mark.Whalley.

Saturday 9th May 2009

With the very generous hospitality of the Cruising Association at Limehouse, we duly assembled on Friday evening at 19:00 prompt for the safety brief lead by Andrew Phasey (Vice Commodore of Saint Pancras Cruising Club).  As promised, the saftey brief was kept as short as possible so that we could partake of some Reverend James and an excellent bar meal.

Although a number of those present intended moving on to The Grapes, Bev and I decided to retire for the evening (as Bev was quite clearly a little apprehensive about the trip out on to the Thames having seen the boats on the river-side of the lock being thrown from side to side by the current, waves and backwash at the marina entrance.

Armed with the latest “hot off the press” edition of the London Tideway Handbook - Estuary Edition.  I discovered that the publication provides such useful information as Sound Signals (e.g. 5 short blasts = “You are not taking sufficient action to avoid me; or I do not understand your intentions are actions”) and Passing Through the Tames Barrier (call London Vessel Traffic Service on VHF Channel 14 asking for permission to pass through the barrier).

Just after 10:00, we set off from Limehouse Basin towards Bow Lock where we had to wait for the incoming tide to cover the washing machine before we would be let out on to the River Lea (aka Bow Creek).

Eric Naylor and Cherie just below Three Mills waiting to enter Bow Lock.

Sharing Bow Lock with Robert and Nicky on nb Tugby.

Mike Askin with Victoria rounding one of the last bends on Bow Creek before joining the Thames.

Passing Trinity House lightship moored at the entrance to the Thames.

Crossing the Thames with the O2 Arena (nee Millenium Dome) on the South Bank.

One of several helicopters from HMS Illustrious during their display along the Thames.

Now aim the pointy end between those two piers…

Cane you spare a cup of sugar Messrs Tate & Lyle?

Closely followed by Victoria

Returning upstream through the Barrage

The convoy returning to the O2 Arena with helicoptors providing the welcoming committee!

Old and new; Victoria and Canary Wharf

Pulled over by the River Police to help them with their enquiries!

I’ll race you to Tower Bridge

Royal Naval College at Greenwich

As the river starts to get rather choppy (worse to come!)

Bev at the helm sporting her new life jacket - the colour suits you

HMS Illustrious…

… which from this angle is smaller than Victoria!

Hey Bev, can we have a helicopter landing pad on our roof?

The start of even choppier waters…

Hold on tight…

Locking throughLimehouse with Cherie…

Squeeze in, there’s room for one more…

Leaving Limehouse Lock

Returning on the Grand Union with Canary Wharf in the distance.

Wanting to get home early tomorrow, we push on to Little Venice.  As we approached Camden Locks we had hoped that as it was after 19:00, the shops would be closed and the area quiet.  Quite the opposite as there were hundreds, possibly thousands of people relaxing, eating, drinking etc around the locks!

Fortunately, three locks done in text book format - not a single foot wrong, nothing falling in the water and not a single bump (phew!).

Once clear of Hampstead Road Locks, a quick photo of the hoards of people on he canal side.

Journey time: 10:00 - 20:30

Limehouse Basin, Bow Locks, River Thames, Thames Barrage, Limehouse Basin, Grand Union to Little Venice.

Posted in Cruise - May 2009, Holidays, Voyages | 1 Comment »

Day 8 - Waltham Abbey to Limehouse

07/05/2009 by Mark.Whalley.

Thursday 7th May 2009

On Friday evening, we need to be moored at Limehouse Basin for a safety brief at the Cruising Association before heading out on to the Thames on Saturday.

Our options were to stay another day at Waltham Abbey, do the run to Limehouse in two sections (possibly mooring overnight at Victoria Park) or head straight to Limehouse.

Having not previously been to Limehouse, I decided to telephone the Harbour Master.  He confirmed that although there are only visitor overnight moorings at Limehouse, he would be quite happy for us to stay longer.  With this news, we set off at just after 10:30, stopping en-route for lunch at Stonebridge Lock (Tottenham), where we refilled the fresh water tank, disposed of rubbish and emptied the chemical toilet.

Shortly after setting off (with a very cloudy sky but no rain - yet), we saw a fleet of 12 helicopters flying overhead.  Not sure if it was welcoming committee, we kept a low profile and hid the anti-aircraft guns.

We found out later that the helicopters are part of the HMS Illustrious Fleet which is currently moored at Greenwich (on the River Thames) - more about HMS Illustrious later.

Returning down the Lee Navigation, I took no further photos until we reach the junction with the Hertford Union Canal.

The northbound photos can be seen on a previous posting.

On Tuesday we had joined the Lee Navigation from the Hertford Union Canal (to the right) to head north (to Waltham Abbey).

Construction at the London Olympic site

As we entered Old Ford lock, we were joined by five policemen in two inflatable launches.  We struck up a conversation which prove to be very interesting.  They are responsible for patrolling all the waterways within the M25 boundary.  Having heard that HMS Illustrious is currently moored at Greenwich to celebrate the 100 anniversary of naval air flight, it transpired that they escorted the aircraft carrier up the Thames just the other day.  As we will be cruising out of Limehouse to the Thames Barrage on Saturday, all being well it will coincide with the planned 14:00 fly pass.

In terms of her ‘vital statistics’, Illustrious is an impressive 209m long, with a beam of 36m and a displacement of 22,000 tonnes.  She has 1400 compartments and 15 lifts, and she is powered by 4 Gas Turbine Olympus engines (a marinised version of Concorde’s), giving her a top speed in excess of 30 knots.  With a Tailored Air Group embarked she has a full complement of over 1000 people, and can operate with a range of both rotary and fixed wing aircraft from the Harrier GR9 to troop-carrying Chinooks.  Her roles can vary widely, and include everything from Maritime Strike to Evacuation Operations; all of which she has ably demonstrated herself to be very much capable of fulfilling.

Of course compared to nb Tastoma she fails in one distinct area - she cannot fit into a canal lock
Continuing down the Lee…

Past the blocked entrance to Bow Back (leading into the London Olympic site)

Three Mills

How quaint…

Spratt’s Patent Limited

Entering Limehouse Basin

Limehouse lock onto the Thames - it’s an open and shut case!

And lots of pictures from around the Basin and the Thames (where we will be heading on Saturday) …

That’s nb Tastoma in the middle…

Posted in Cruise - May 2009, Holidays, Voyages | No Comments »

Day 7 - Waltham Abbey

06/05/2009 by Mark.Whalley.

Wednesday 6th May 2009

Having had a long day cruising yesterday, overnight we decided that rather than attempt to get to Hertford, we would stay at Waltham Abbey.

Much to Bev’s relief, she could catch up on her sleep (staying in bed until after 10:00).  With me up at just after 05:00, I had plenty of time to catch up on personal emails, sort out the couple of hundred photos that I had already taken and try and find out what there was to see around us.

Yesterday evening I had already taken a short walk to stock up on provisions so knew roughly where we were and that the town centre was only a few minutes walk.

Of course, having stocking up with plenty of bread, the first job of the day was to feed our neighbours.

Later in the day we walked to the town and visited Waltham Abbey Church (the reputed burial place of King Harold, killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066).

Having seen all we wanted to, we picked up a couple of steaks from a local butcher and some bird feed (as they must be fed up with just having bread).

We were tempted to pop into the Welsh Harp, but decided there must have been something wrong with their spirit level when they built it, so just returned to the boat.

Posted in Cruise - May 2009, Holidays, Voyages | No Comments »

It all hinges on some welding

30/04/2009 by Mark.Whalley.

Thursday 30th April 2009

Having travelled to our offices in Slough on Wednesday morning for a couple of meetings, I returned to the boat at Packet Boat Marina in the evening.  On Thursday, the boat was booked in for some welding work at Highline Yachting to repair the hinge on the side hatch door that had sheered off last week.

At around 10:30, I set off from the marina for HLY where I moored on the pontoons between the boat yard and the Waterside pub/restaurant.  I met up with Mark and Paul who telephoned Steve (the welder) who arrived about 10 minutes later.

Although I had brought along some new hinges, with the boat’s insulation being sheet polystyrene, Steve said it would be difficult to weld without removing some of the internal panelling and the insulation.  As the lower part of the hinge was still firmly attached to the boat and only the upper part broken, we agreed that the best course of action was to try and repair the hinge rather than replace it.  This would then only require welding to be done on the door (which does not have insulation).  Steve set about drilling out the hinge rod from both the lower and upper hinge, welded the upper section back on to the door and inserted a new rod to make the hinge as good as new.  Once the door was realigned (with the aid of a universal persuader), the job was complete.

Whilst at HLY, I bought some more coal and propane and returned to the marina.

With a full tank of diesel (160ltr), 3 full bottles of propane (39KG), 20ltr unleaded petrol (for the generator), 950ltr of fresh water and a full wine rack, all I need now is for Bev to arrive and we would be ready to start our journey.

Posted in Cruise - May 2009, Holidays, Voyages | No Comments »

Packet Boat to Little Venice on IceBreaker 9.2.0 aka nb Tastoma

29/07/2008 by Mark.Whalley.

For reasons too complex to explain here, I own a 52’ (15.8m) steel narrow boat.  Of course, if you happened to mention you had a 52’ boat in such places as Monte Carlo or Cannes some may be suitably impressed.  But when you mention it is less than 7’ (2.1m) wide, those envious looks start to look elsewhere.

A little bit of history about the British narrow boat

The narrow boat (no, it’s not a barge, a long ship or a long boat) is something which is almost exclusively British.  With the first working narrow boats dating as far back as the 18th century, the narrow boat was originally designed for carrying goods on narrow canals.

Although originally there were over 4000 miles (6500km) of navigable inland waterways in the UK, today we have just over 2500.  A figure which is slowly increasing as people realise what the waterways network can provide – from cycling, walking and running along towpaths to fishing, canoeing and of course boating.

The majority of the waterways network is managed by British Waterways.

In July 2008, having not done much boating since moving the boat (nb Tastoma) from Sawley Marina, Derby to its current location at Packet Boat Marina, Cowley Peachy, Uxbridge (what a great name), I decided it was about time to try and drum up some enthusiasm for the resurrection of the “Booze Cruise”.

What follows are a number of emails that passed between me and my colleagues in Premium Services….

Hi All,

Following a number of successful evening and one weekend “Booze Cruises” whilst I was a contractor at RWE npower when the DBA Team (comprising Ingres, orakle, Mi-SQL, SeaQuel Server, DeeBeeTwo and M$ Excess) would join me on my narrow boat for an evening cruise along the canals of the West Midlands (usually ending up at a pub / restaurant), I thought it might be time to resurrect the tradition.

Before I start any planning, I thought I would first gauge the interest (if any) amongst the Premium Services Team.

If you are interested, could you let me know your preference for: evening/weekend, which day(s) are good/bad etc.

Cheers
Mark

PS For those that are interested, one of the previous Booze Cruises can be viewed here and our recent trip to Little Venice: (apologies for the poor sound, image quality etc).

This was then followed by a flurry of responses.  Some of which I have copied below…

“Happy to be crew if it does not limit drinking.”

“Drinking is compulsory – and of course being crew, someone else has to get your drinks and take away the empties.”

“{A colleague} can vouch for my credentials and Stella drinking capabilities”

“Would that be the holy water (St. Ella) – to whom I worship as frequently as my liver will allow me”

 

“San Ella as they say in France, is indeed an imbibing gift from the gods to which I honour as often as possible. {A colleague} has been introducing me to the Oasis of Windsor and shown me where I can obtain safe fluids to take on board to quench such thirsts.”

 

 

“The difficultly is that I’m mainly based outta Ker-nutsford “aka Barclays, Radbroke Hall” and live in the land of the Liver-pool (N.B. I’m not a scouser, so all items not locked down are safe) which makes anything but a weekend extremely difficult. This is unless of course I can schedule some suitable meeting in Sluff to coincide with an evening event….urmmmm” (no guessing where this might have come from!)

“I’m pretty flexible with weekends as I’ve already had a week off and won’t be doing anything else until November and my next holiday.”

“I have had an idea over the weekend.  I know that {A colleague}  has been planning a Team Building  day out for some time now.  Rather than paying a lot of money for some fancy hotel why not use the narrow boat for the day?”

So, with enough numbers to make the trip viable, I decide to take the “Booze Cruise” (now renamed “non-Teetotal Cruise”) to the next stage…

Hi All,

Apologies for taking so long to plan a trip and for the change of name from ‘Booze Cruise’ to ‘non-Teetotal Cruise’. Wouter has suggested that we try and plan it for when Michael Lochead is in the UK – the 29th / 30th July.

With sunset around 21:00, although boating is possible at night, I would not want to be blamed for wiping out the whole of Premium Services, so I suggest we should plan for a 21:00 cut-off.

At 4 lock-miles per hour, we are not going to get very far – especially if we set off from Packet Boat Marina.

I have therefore come up with what I hope is an ingenious solution.

I will move the boat to a bridge near Hayes and Harlington train station, a mere stone’s throw away.  This will cut over an hour off an otherwise quite uninteresting stretch of canal.  By catching the 16:15 or 16:26 train from Slough, we could all be on-board and ready to set off by 17:00.

We would then have a maximum of 4 hours cruising.

Using CanalPlanAC, I have worked out that we could get to either Little Venice (5 minutes walk from Paddington Station) or Brentford (close to Brentford station).

The Little Venice route is about 13 miles long and has no locks.  I have recently done this route with my better half (Bev), but the lack of locks makes it a bit less fun.  Its main advantage being next to Paddington means a 16 minute train journey for those needing to get back to their cars in Slough.  The Brentford route is much shorter at 5 miles, but has an impressive 10 locks – plenty for you to do (rather than just drink Tea!).  The biggest problem with Brentford is returning to Slough – by public transport it takes between 1-1½ hours.

As most of the evening will be spent travelling, I would suggest we pick up an M&S Buffet and plenty of Tea (other suggestions also welcome!).  For those not in a rush to return to Slough (or elsewhere) I am sure there might be a hostelry – serving Tea of course.

I will be remaining on board overnight and probably return the boat to Packet Boat Marina the following morning.  If anyone is interested, I can provide accommodation for one (or more if you are very good friends!).

Regards
Mark

There was then a further flow of incoming mail, some concerning the change of name, others requesting their choice of blend of Tea whilst most included their vote for Little Venice…

Maybe we should open up a competition for other names for the Cruise.  We could even wait until winter then as we break through the frozen canal we could call it “Project Icebreaker!”

Earl Grey for me please

If I am invited…. my vote would be for Brentford Gauging Lock.

 

Actually, even if I’m not invited, it still gets my vote.

Is the director (Mr Flower) also joining us?

We have the DirectorS: Wouter and Michael and the Sr. Vice President, WW Support Service (Mr Lochead) – a veritable crowd!

So it is a ‘high society’ event!

Absolutely, it’s black dresses or evening gowns – and that’s just the men

Great idea, thanks guys, I haven’t checked with Don, but I expect he’ll be interested in joining us.

 

Oh and I think Don prefers English Breakfast over Earl Grey….

 

And so it was, with the assembled crew and passengers on board, we set off from Hayes and Harlington station along the Grand Union canal, turning left at Bull’s Bridge towards Little Venice and Paddington.

We didn’t lose anyone overboard and most of the ballast was consumed (mainly drunk).

Arriving at Little Venice we did a 180 turn (winding) before mooring up along the towpath where I was going to stay for the night.

To ensure I wasn’t left with too much ballast, we had a few more glasses of Holy Water before disembarking and heading towards Paddington train station and returning to their respective homes.

Mark Whalley
Captain

Posted in Booze Cruise #7, Booze Cruise | No Comments »

A new job, but does this mean we have to sell the boat?

06/10/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

As I have said before, the boat was bought to primarily serve one purpose; to provide accommodation for me when working away from home as a contractor. When originally purchased, I was based in Kingswinford – right in the heart of the Birmingham Canal Navigation (BCN) and with superb connecting canals to other parts of the country. When I took the contract at Rolls-Royce (Derby), finding Sawley Marina just 7 miles from the offices of Rolls-Royce could not have been planned any better.

As part of the negotiations of accepting the post with Ingres, it was agreed that I would be based at home. However, there would be times when I would need to visit client sites throughout EMEA and attend meetings and courses at Ingres’ UK offices in Slough.

The good news was that being based at home would entitle me to claim expenses when visiting client sites and the Slough office :-).  After considering the cost of hotels in and around Slough and the cost of keeping the boat (moorings, BW license, insurance, fuel, BSS etc), based on a single day per week occupancy on average, it worked out cheaper to keep the boat. Thus we agreed to keep the boat, and for as long as we could find a suitable mooring, would commence the move from Sawley.

Posted in Sawley to Packet Boat, Moving to Moorings | No Comments »

Going back as a ‘Permie’

05/10/2007 by Mark.Whalley.

Having worked with the Ingres Relational Database Management System (www.ingres.com)   for over 15 years, initially whilst at the University of Wales in Swansea (www.swansea.ac.uk) and latterly as an independent consultant with Northern Electric and Gas / RWE npower (www.npower.com) and in early 2007 with Rolls-Royce (www.rolls-royce.com) in Derby, when I discovered that Ingres were looking for an additional member to join their Premium Services Team, my CV was taken off the shelf, polished and sent off to them.

My decision to apply for the post came around the time I had left RWE npower (after being with them for 10 years) and had decided to take a short break before looking for a new contract. Within days of starting my sabbatical, I was approached by an agent enquiring if I would be interested in a contract with Rolls-Royce in Derby. It was whilst waiting the for my MoD Security Clearance to come through (nearly three months!) that I applied for the post with Ingres.  Eventually my Security Clearance came through and I started working at R-R towards the end of April 2007. Over the coming months I settled in and thoroughly enjoyed the work at R-R, typically travelling from home to Derby on a Monday morning and returning on Friday afternoon. Within a few weeks I managed to bring the working week down to four days by working long (10-11 hour) days Monday through to Thursday which made the weekends seem far more pleasant and less rushed.

With so much work to do at R-R, travelling back and fore each week and the birth of our first grandchild Nia (subject of another blog posting) I put my application to Ingres at the back of my mind. Then in mid August, I received an email from Wouter Keyser (Director of Premium Services at Ingres) inviting me to an interview!

Needless to say, to be given the chance to work for the company whose products I have used intensively for the majority of my working life was an opportunity I was not going to let pass me by.

After attending an interview with Wouter and Sean Paton (one of the Premium Services Team Leaders) at the end of August, I was offered the post and started work on Monday 5th November.

 

Posted in Sawley to Packet Boat, Moving to Moorings | No Comments »

Booze Cruise #5 - Titford Pumphouse to Merryhill via Dudley Port and Netherton Tunnel

17/08/2006 by Mark.Whalley.

17 August 2006

Having not taken my colleagues out for a Booze Cruise for a while, we decided to try and repeat what had always been considered to be the most enjoyable - namely the very first one - where we spent the afternoon traveling from the Titford Pumphouse to Merryhill via Tipton and the Netherton Tunnel.

As with our first trip to Merryhill, we would set off from the Pumphouse in the early afternoon with a number of volunteers who had chosen to take the afternoon off work. However, unlike our previous run, as can be seen we set off in heavy rain and thunder!

 

Oldbury Top Lock - Mike F, Andy F, Terry G and Jay P

 

Oldbury 2nd Lock - Andy F and Mike F

 

After completing the six Oldbury locks, we turned left onto the Birmingham Canal (Old Line) winding our way to Tipton Junction and then right at Factory Junction before entering the first of the three Factory Locks at Tipton Green.

Mike F - not looking too happy at having to work all these locks!

 

Jay P - also wondering why he also drew the short straw.

 

I wonder if this could be the reason why? Terry G, who loves work. He could sit and watch others do it all day!

 

Mike F - striding forwards

 

Jay P and Andy F at the bottom of three Factory Locks

 

Oh look, it’s that Mr German giving the orders again!

 

OK lads, as the boat passes the lock gates, we’ll all trip Mr G up with the rope!

 

Tastoma in lock

 

Within a couple of minutes we arrive at the Ryland Aquaduct with the train line to the left and the A461 passing below. Being about 10 minutes early, we waited in what had now turned out to be a really sunny and warm afternoon for the rest of the ‘Team’ to arrive.

 

Waiting on the Ryland Aquaduct

 

With the rest of the team on board, we continued along the Birmingham Level Main Line before turning right onto the Netherton Tunnel Branch and into the 3,027 yard Netherton Tunnel.

 

Entrance to Netherton Tunnel

 

That exit looks a long way away!

 

Tunnel wall

 

And eventually the exit

 

Exiting the Netherton Tunnel and continuing on the Dudley No 1 canal..

 

Mike B protecting his wife from the undergrowth (apologies, I cannot remember her name)

 

 

 

At Blowers Green Bridge, a sharp left turn and into the 12ft 0in Blowers Green Bridge (the deepest on the BCN).

 

Mike B and Stu M closing the upper lock gate

 

Mike F, Jay P, Martin C and Mike B working paddles on Blower’s Green Bottom Lock (Dudley & Lye Waste bridge

 

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Eventually arriving at the Waterfront. But not before we have a major thunderstorm with rain droplets imploding on the canal!

 

Rainbow after the thunderstorm at the Waterfront

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Booze Cruise | No Comments »