We bought Narrowboat Liberty - a 55’ 2004 narrowboat - in 2021 as our home. She represented affordable living for us.
Narrowboat Liberty is a chance to do something different while we still have the will, health and good humour to do it, plus most of our teeth. We faced the prospect of growing old as the world passed us by. That wasn’t for us! WE wanted to be the ones passing by, enjoying the scenery and history of Britain.
So, here we are, two ‘continuous cruisers’ and our coydog Tilly. This is our life, warts and all!
Join us on our travels - who knows, perhaps narrowboat life is for you, too?
Hello, hope you guys are well. I found your review on a purchase for Tilly on amazon. You mentioned a chiropractic treatment for your dog and hormone tablets. I have been desperately trying to find a Chiropractor for my dogs and wondered if you wouldn't mind passing on the details?
You just went through drumlin country. '-ber' is a suffix for a hill - think 'berg', and all those rounded green hills were laid down in the last ice age. That was my stamping ground in the 60s when we were pedalling up into the Dales.
We haven’t really encountered those issues after three years onboard. In the summer the horse flies are a pest, but none of those things are any worse to an older boater than a younger boater, which is what this video is about!
Great interview , well done guys! We were stranded on the Rochdale canal summit last summer due to a dry summit pound. We were told that water shortage was made worse as the main reservoir had been sold off 40 years ago , to the water company ,which only allow three locks full of water per day. I guess 40 years ago they considered the canal abandoned.
I am American, just married my lovely British gent a month ago and last weekend we purchased our 40 ft pre owned narrowboat, Black Swan. Your videos have been helpful, informative and fun! We are starting work on her Saturday and ar3 at the excited phase...lol. Whilst we are getting her ready we are still renting our terrace home. We hope to move by end of August. We will keep a permanent mooring in a small country marina as John needs a base to work and park his work van to stay in his area. Any advice appreciated! Thank you for sharing your adventures
That’s great for you both, Fred and John! Which part of the canal network do you want to stay in for your marina mooring? It’s good that you still have somewhere comfortable to stay while you’re getting The Black Swan the way you want her - though it’s tiring when also working full time. We’ve taken a mooring so that we have a base in this lovely area on the Leeds and Liverpool canal. At this location I’m less than two hours drive from my work HQ though of course I mainly work from the boat. The only advice I’d give is to find time to relax together - effectively you’re more keeping up two homes and one is a work in progress - that’s tiring even though exciting and it’s important not to exhaust yourselves before you move aboard. If you get the chance to spend weekends onboard before you let go of the terraced rental, you’ll get a really good idea for what you need onboard and what you don’t. We moved way too many items onto the boat when we first lived aboard and even now we’re still finding ways to eliminate things we rarely or never use. Boats can get cluttered really easily! We rented a storage unit for things we valued but didn’t want on the boat. That can buy you time to make decisions about what belongs on the boat. You may end up donating stuff to charity - We got rid of a whole storage unit last year just donating like crazy - it was very liberating and saves us about £700 a year in storage costs! Enjoy your new adventure - boat life and the boating community can be awesome! 💕 ♥️ 🐕
@NarrowboatLiberty Thanks! My husbands name is John, I am Susan. The fred part is from when he set up this phone on an email/ Google account...lol. In America, U lived in a small cabin in the 300acre woods on our own 2 acres. My daughter and granddaughter now have the cabin. 500 sq ft for 3 people, 2 dogs, and 2 cats with a rainwater system I have learned to live tiny and be frugal with water but will need to help my husband learn. Aire and Calder canal navigation Rawcliffe Bridge outside of the Anchorage Pub, Black Swan, if you ever visit that area. Our lease is up in July so we are on a strict timeliness to finish....and we're off!
Once again a wonderful vlog, being from Manchester we find it brilliant, growing up around canals, your vlog take us back in time, it wonderful to see them come back to life, many thanks🙏✝️🙏🇨🇦
A brilliant cover for this amazing get together. Thank you for covering it and bringing it to us. Great stuff. Our wonderful history!! Best wishes to you and Tilly by proxy! Xx. Sorry, Xx + x
Tilly, you are loved. I loved your story.glad your humans shared it with us. It is so hard when the ones we love cross the rainbow bridge. Then God gives us someone to love agsin. For me, l said goodbye to ginger, then coco. I now have Aki. He loves all his toys and treats. He loves watching you . Yesterday, he tried to put a toy on the tv stand to share. He even looks out the door for you,he wants to play. Love Aki human susan
