We are Fran and Rich and in 2018 we had a complete lifestyle change. Tired of working for others we took the plunge and bought a canal narrowboat to explore Britain's inland waterways. Now, six years on, we have a new boat - Laura Maisie to continue our adventures. Our vlogs show how we live our lives aboard with our two dogs, Jess and Archie. As we say 'It's not just about the boat!'
Many thanks Fran and Rich xx
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Such a shame to leave your garden you were so lucky to have a place to stop But understand you want to keep going while you can. Good luck keep boating and please keep the videos going to take us with you .for those of us who are unable to. So thankyou so much Take care xxx
Hi Rich and Fran great video as usual, which brings back very happy memories of Kinver and the Staffs and Worcs Canal. In the early nineties my wife, I, two cats and a dog lived on our Les Allan built Gardner 3LW engined trad narrow boat Galton at the Hyde near Kinver, when Tony the last BWB Lock keeper lived in the lock cottage. It was a lovely quiet place then, very rural and unspoiled and there were about fifteen boats on the moorings, which had just been re-established after about ten years neglect. There were no facilities then, and one had to go to Whittington for water and then wind and return to our mooring every three weeks or so. We did have a guy with an old working boat who sold fuel, gas, wood and coal who made regular runs along the cut. The choice of a traditional boat was not the best choice for a nomad live aboard, as the tiller flat and boatmans cabin layout really made cruising rather a solitry and somewhat uncomfortable passtime! However, our boat was a beauty and attracted a lot of interest, and it was a very warm and confortable home for about a year and a half. Looking back we should have gone for a semi-trad like your current boat, but we had decided not to go for the nomadic life, and we both went into the canal liesure industry and I ended up building and fitting out narrow boats for a local premier builder for ten years, after my wife and I ran a hire fleet in the heart of Birmingham where we lived on Galton. Great times on the then very different and quieter canal system! Stay safe and well all of you, thanks for your posts.
Its bad to find 0:05 litter in beautiful places or anywhere once after picking 0:05 up the next day a humming bird said thank you and good morning keep your chi flowing Fran
Hi fran and rich. This is jenny from mj neverending. We met this morning . I made my poor husband Michael stop in the weeds so I could say hello. I t was so lovely to meet you. Wr have journeyed with you since getting our boat 6ys ago. Was a pleasure to say hi. Hope you both feel better soon.jenny and Michael xx😊
Fran, what was the name of the guided meditation you mentioned, that you like a lot? At Tahl? After my metastatic breast cancer diagnosis I’ve been meditating a lot, but it seems I do best with guided meditations. I’m still a newbie I guess!
Sorry you have not been so good but I'm sure meditation can only be good for you. The man I watch the most is Eckhart Tolle. He has lots of life guidance videos on youTube but also some mediations mixed in with them. I find him really inspirational. The other one is Michael Taft. He is a bit more serios and his meditations are usually an hour long which can be a bit of a challenge for me, but I have a go when I am in the mood.
There buried medieval villages were almost all ravaged by the Black Death. They are called ' Deserted Medieval Villages' & are sometimes marked on a map as ' DMV'.
Loved this Video,well I'm loving them all that I've watched so far! was interesting making the Bacon out of the Banana Skins! I must try it😊I'm now going to watch another one,such beautiful scenery,I've never been over to England,so it's lovely to see this!🙂
The pair of you are so adorable.... new super fan from Canada...regarding the rubbish... we have a small town conservation area that is along a small town wooded beach ares that has little Flinstone Character signs along the path that say things like follow "this" to find "that" ... go here to find hidden treasure etc etc... sign this board to say you were here... very family friendly but also has signs that say..." You are grown up enough to get yourself here to build a fire on the beach and cook yourself something to eat... We ARE SURE you are old enough to clean up your garbage or rubbish! Do your part and have respect and come back and enjoy a nice space... " something like that. and do you know... the many times I've been there to that spot there is no rubbish to speak of. you can tall that all the people who visit pick up after themselves and others. The only rubbish I have actually found was stuff that washed up on the shore with algae on it. and one time I found a plastic jug that washed up on the shore and as I was bringing it to the toe path I noticed a big dog poo and I scooped it up with the jug and left it on the side of the toe path kind of hidden to pick up on my way out and when I was on my way out of the conservation area to get the poo jug .. someone had already picked it up and discarded it at the entrance near the car park. Long story but those little signs made all the difference in opening the eyes to the people who used the space. ❤
Life's an adventure and you certainly had that. Good going with the locks. Might have to ease back on the choccy so you can fit across the walkways😂. Liked Stouport when there in April 2012 after sailing up from Worcester before heading down the Seven. Looking forward to your time in Birmingham, careful at Bournville.😂
Hello again ☺. Oh I could feel your anxiety! ALWAYS go with your gut feeling and your intuition Rich, always. There's always somewhere else around the next bend ... Sending love, light & bright shiny blessings 🐶🐕🐾 xx
Meditation is a lifelong practice. There are any number of ways to do it. I find that I meditate when I'm doing a monotonous job. Or by sitting still and doing purposeful breathing at the same time. When we control our minds we can be at peace no matter what is going on around us.
Wow what a day! Pete’s now questioning his friendship as he is an avid marmite hater, and we have to say that Hamish beats Jess in the reluctance stakes any day 😂
Well done guys. We loved doing the Delph flight and found the private gardens on the canal beautifully maintained. A lot of boaters are wary of the canals around Birmingham but they are worth the time and you very easily get immersed into the history of the region. We watched two girls once on another canal wheel an empty shopping trolley down the towpath and then push it into the canal in front of our boat as we sat there having a cuppa. We asked them the purpose of their actions and the reply was because “we can”……Shopping trolleys are heavy and difficult to pull out of a canal but we did and returned it to its rightful owner. You just have to shake your head and bite your tongue😂
You two have put in the hours and the effort to get to where you want to be. Love the wedding present - it looks great. Don't know what to say about the trolley, how the other half lives ? I'll do a vid of our staircase locks from the river through to the canal. We have a lift bridge for motor boats 🛥. No cabal boats to speak of, except one or two electric boats, which have an orchestra occasionally. Yes... we could do with a few more liveaboards.
Been there done that route as well. WE actually stayed at Merry Hill and it was very quiet in the evening. Not a lot of boat traffic when we were there. Had the place to ourselves. Enjoyed your adventure very much,,, thank you!!!
Lovely episode thank you, despite the shopping trolley incident however. Clever you knew how to get free. Good tips I'm afraid come at an expense sometimes. Hope the rest of your week is pain free. 😊
Hi Rich & Fran,I've just come across you on my RU-vid feed,I've now watched 2 of your Videos & have really enjoyed them,I am fascinated by these narrow boats,nothing like this in Australia? The scenery has been gorgeous,love your little Doggies,so I will be binge watching you over the next weekend,it's very cold here now,perfect to do a catch up,I'm glad I found you,bye now,take care😊
I am in Tasmania and have a grand vision of a canal network around the state connecting to the central Highlands lakes .The Canals could be created from the East to the West drawing water from the sea and going through a desalination process . This would help irrigate Farm lands and top up the Hydro Electricity Dams . There would be jobs created in construction , boat building and ancillary services. Livaboard boats would also provide housing alternatives for people who cannot get in the real estate market.
Thank you Carol, it is great to have you with us. Our summer doesn't seem to have arrived properly yet so we are also snuggled in watching stuff a lot of the time. Good luck with the binge watching x
my Tasmanian canal post was intended to be a reply to the other Australian who commented on this vlog. It is a grand vision I thought of back in 2020 when economies going down the gurgler and infrastructure spending was needed . I still think there should be proper consideration of it from governments
Phew, that was alot of locks to do in one day but worth it to find a quiet and safe mooring spot. Loved all the gardens at the start of the video as well as the geese and their babies. Thanks for another lovely video.🌼🌸
Pretty scenery in the sunlight, but phew 25 locks, bet you slept well. Bit of a blow having a shopping trolley around the prop, bit scary. Take care 🙂🩷
Hi Fran, Rich, Archie and Jess, I've spent the last few weeks watching a couple of your vlogs every day from the beginning and now I've caught up I don't know what to do with myself ☹️ My hubby is very grateful to you both as he's always wanted to live on the canal and I flatly refused, but now I think I want to more than him! Unfortunately, we've a few years left until we retire so we'll continue to watch and dream.... thank you for sharing 😊 Steph and Paul
Hello Rich and Fran. My stamping ground when my late wife and I lived on our Les Allen trad 62' Gardner 3LW engined narrow boat Galton (named after Galton Bridge on the Main Line to Brum, by the first owner a Soho Jweller from whom we bought the boat) at the Hyde near Kinver on The Staffs and Worcs Canal in the early nineties with a dog and two cats.After a stint at Les Allen and Sons in Oldbury and a year with Brummagem Boats at Sherbourne Street Wharf in the heart of Birmingham which was great then. I worked as a boat builder/fitter for ten years at Black Country Narrow Boats on the Stourbridge Canal at Stourton, a premier boat builder in the eighties/nineties, now ceased trading in 2007. We never had any vandal or other trouble apart from serious windups on the BCN, we loved the Stourbridge 16 and the view from the top of the delpf flight was lovely in the spring, but mooring at 'Merry Hell' the site of the Round Oak steel works was a no, no! Far too noisy and too many gongoozlers even then, but generally there were very few boats and I could not believe the congestion at The Bonded Warehouse on your visit, in our day only a handdful of boats and it was only busy once a year during the rally weekend. Boats now moored almost nose to tail on so many canals these days from watching your vidios, and so many floating cottages with all mod cons even Aga's, costing Iro 300k a time! How things have changed, and now so many restrictions to what on can do! Love you posts and the dogs, great but messy boating companions I recall. Stay safe and well and happy cruising.
Thank you Rex. What a great experience you have had when the canals were full of 'proper' boaters. I know exactly what you mean about floating cottages. I think something gets lost along the line. We even feel that with Laura Maisie and she doesn't have half the mod cons that some boats do. Thank you for your comment
