We're In A Race Against Time! Narrowboat Canal Life - Episode 180 

You two Still got it! lovely vlog. cheers till next one!

Thank you for a lovely cruise!!!

Great vlog Guys, Frans nice and organised with your meals 😋 So desserted along your journey this time ❤xxx

As always, thank you. My best times on yt are cruising with the two of you.

thanks for sharing

Like this video? of course we like all your video's. Nice of Fran to give us a little tour and show us what you have to look forward to for tea after a chilly day cruising. Never mind about the wind noise it is blowing a bit of a chilly gale here today while I am enjoying seeing you two. Off to my workshop to do a bit of turning now.

Thanks for the ride 😊

Wow that is a mission, hope you make it and super Vlog thank you xxx

Lovely thanks I always enjoy your company

What a lovely cruise. Still lovely mixture of colours despite the weather. Your boat is so cosy and homely. Great to see the doggies. Take care and look forward to next instalment. Thank you.

Great video 😊 hope you have Warmed up, have a great weekend.

We cruised the Bridgewater several times- we moored at Uplands Marina at Anderton . Such a loooong straight stretch from Lymm (a favourite of ours and always moored there overnight ) to Sale. Mr D has to be the most amazing "appliance" on earth. The family gave me one for my 70th birthday( as finally retired) and I wish I'd had it all the years I worked. Made pea and ham soup the other day and today have cooked mince which we will have tomorrow

Really enjoyed watching your travels. Thank you

Always a delight to see a new chapter in your journey. Cheers!

Whatcha singin' there Richie? Thankyou for the Boat tours YEs not seen it in ages. Thankyou. Good to see you are normal with a little homely style going on ahhaha

Another wonderful insight into your fantastic and enviable way of life. Thank you and please keep sharing

Great video! Thanks for sharing what goes on while one of the crew is manning the tiller.

My late husband and I hired a day narrowboat at Lymme with some friend's a few years ago. ❤💙🐕🐕

Thank you so much for sharing your trip up the Bridgewater with us. Barton Swing Aqueduct was an engineering marvel for its time, and it's wonderful people still get to use it in these times.

Awesome. You guys always have great music on your vids. Love it. And fantastic video skills , thanks.

"Middlewich " sound magical, or have I watched too much Harry Potter ! Lovely relaxing video X

Fran blended in with the scenery while walking the dog!

That's two words I've had to look up the meaning of, incongruous and salubrious. You learn something new every day so they say.

You'll have to go back for Wolsey.. Great to see you both.

Thanks for a great vlog. Took me back to childhood days when it was a huge treat to be close to and watch the swing aqueduct when it moved the canal to let a big ship go along the Manchester Ship Canal.

Lovely cruising video, know you’re in a rush but it’s lovely for an Aussie to see Britain, love your slow cooker Fran xxx

Brilliant vlog,,, always great to watch 2 happy faces,,.. not supprized rich is grinning with such a great cook !! Blimey he don’t go without lol Happy days and look forward to the next 👍👍

Thank you for the lovely video.

I too like to look at the houses and gardens as we go by. I’m always surprised the difference between those that embrace the canal and those that completely ignore it. But it is fun being nosey 😊

Lovely as always to cruise with you both. Hope you make it to Middlewich in a timely manner. Jenny

It looks so cosy inside your boat with the fire going and the dinner cooking. The apple and berry crumble looks delicious, great to see your video. ❤cheers from New Zealand.

Another great vlog! Thamk you both..

My friends who used to live on a narrowboat, now live in a little cottage by the canal and have exactly the same fire as yours with the oven. They love it. ❤️💙🐕🐕

How beautiful. Here I am in Dakar Senegal watching your vlog. It will also be winter here, with very cold temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius at night. I have been retired for 22 years and have not been to the UK for over 45 years. I would like to visit Brixam and Pezance where a few uncles lived after fleeing Ostend from the German occupation. I really want to visit the UK again before it's too late, maybe next year. I also fled and opted for the beautiful weather in southern Spain where, as a widower, I remarried a Senegalese and here I am now in the family home. Thanks for the beautiful vids, it takes a lot of effort to always deliver quality. Enjoy and make many memories together with the dogs. Take care. Oh yes, I am Flemish from Ostend.

Great little slice of life, cruising in not-great weather because you have to rather than want to! Also good to be reminded that narrow boats are not always as pristine as so many images suggest. But a wonderful sense of Being Right There. Thank you both so much!

Remember going over the road swing Bridge as a child and feeling quite scared, it seemed very rickety then 😂

Whoo hoo!! I'm all caught up! Thank you for the hours of company while my data processes

Thanks for taking us along on this lovely autumn cruise, the food looked great. I hope that both of you and the doggies are doing well. Take care and all the best. Stevie

i was feeling sad today. but after watching your vlog i feel very happy ty xxxx

Great seeing your travels guys, safe cruising! Gav

good vid cranking it on the cut keep up the cool vid on you travels cranking it on the cut stay safe and warm on the boat thanks for cool vid on channel thanks lee

Hello Fran and Rich. I have fairly recently found your comments and experiences that you went through when you decided to have a simpler life! On the cut, on your first narrow boat Constanza. My late wife also a vegetarian due to her serious love and need to protect animals and I decided to 'Drop Out' in 1990 The Canals twenty-eight years ago were a very different and less crowded place than today, and the 'Rose Tinted Specs' remained firmly attached to our noses and a lot of mistakes were made! My background of having a couple of garage businesses in Kent and a pre-war quality car restoration business. A long life of being involved with the sea and water, and a recent change of career into the Canal Leisure Industry which saw us sell up, move from Kent to the West Midlands and join a thriving Birmingham based narrow boat hire fleet and boat building company was the start of our dream! My first mistake was to want a traditional, quality built, vintage engined narrow boat, and we bought Galton, a sixty-two ft high quality traditional, Gardner 3LW marine engined narrow boat in an engine room with traditional boatmans cabin. Our idea was similar to yours, live aboard and cruise the extensive canal system at will and buy bricks and mortar to keep our investment safe and rent for income. I became involved with Les Allen and Sons in Oldbury and got involved with them as an engineer/ boat fitter and then was asked by the ex-owner of our boat, to fit out his new narrow boat which the Allens were building. So this put a temporary hold on fully dropping out, and we bought a mid terraced Victorian property, which we renovated back to a true Victorian town house but with all the modern conveniences of a good modern kitchen, separate toilet and shower/bath room. Like your cottage in Herefordshire, this took far more time than we envisaged, and we wanted to go boating, so sometimes it was difficult to generate the enthusiasm necessary for getting the extensive work done on the house. We found a beautiful residential mooring for Galton at the Hyde near Kinver on the lovely Staffs and Worcs Canal and joined the small band of like minded boaters and lived comfortably aboard Galton with the bare minimum of facilities, no power, no water (half a mile and two windings away) no waste pump out, we had a big holding tank, another big mistake! With our two cats and a dog. Our little cottage was finished and we found that the organisation of holiday letting needed far more input from us than we ever envisaged, and employing an agent saw virtually all our profit evaporate into other pockets and little came to us. After a very good year living on and doing a few nice cruises with Galton, we realized our many mistakes. A trad boat is not user friendly for cruising, our cats loved the boat when it was static on our mooring, but when underway it was a nightmare. With us expecting to have cat mangled in the engine room and they were wonderful at finding the tiniest exit point and launching themselves shore wards often not making it and causing and emergency stop. Not easy with a thirty-five ton boat, a launch into the canal for me (Annette couldn't swim) and subsequent rescue of a very angry and bedraggled feline! So our Rose Tinted Specs came off and we with a gret deal of regret sold Galton, bought and restored a fifteenth century water mill and millers cottage near Bridgnorth in lovely Shropshire. But that is another story. A personal comment, sorry I do not like your early incidental music, (the later is much nicer) but I think your general presentation is very professional and so interesting. Your second narrow boat Laura Maisie by Elton Moss, is a most beautiful narrow boat and embodies all the right elements for a live abord extended cruising home in my opinion. Congratulations on a great practical design and I wish you many more years of living on your lovely boat and fulfilling your dream!

Thanks for the great video! This brings back so many memories- growing up in Wigan I used to go narrowboating with the boys brigade over bank holiday weekends. I went used to go down the Bridgwater because the officers didn’t think we would manage the Wigan locks but one year the Bridgwater was closed so we tried it and it was so much fun we did it every year after that. Worsley is a great place it is a pity you couldn’t stop.

Nice to see inside your home, love the carving, what a great way to live. Episode 180, I've been with you all the way. Looking forward to the next 180 xx

Great video guys thank you

Great to see you cruising, enjoyed the vlog

You have just made myself and my hubby very happy viewers! we walk the Bridgewater way from up by the Trafford Centre either turning back to Manchester through Trafford Park passing Manchester United Media City there too.Or turning to walk to Sale! or we do a bit inbetween! as we live in Old Trafford! if you'd of stopped at the boathouse Stretford you could of done a bit of shopping close by or walked under the Canal to Chorlton where all the Trendy people live or just walked around Sale water Park or the River Mersey walks or Turn Moss both areas your Doggies would of loved it loads of Dog Walkers there.Sale is a shopping area but some trendy bars opened there! We loved the Worsley bit...We used to go on our Dates to The Bridgewater Hotel in the 70's.Last year we had afternoon tea on the Barge there and went across the bridge too.Then Lymm was Our other Date Nights in the 70's too! I've often wondered if yous would ever make it up here! On the Bridgwater it's only in the holiday season we have seen Narrowboats not many though.❤

Silly question here. How do you decide where to spend your winter? Does it depend upon marina services? Village markets, supplies, pubs? Near family? How that particular section is open and maintained? Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

That was so peaceful, unfortunately to peaceful I kept fulling asleep and having to go back.

Thanks for video. Im glad to see youns again.Hi puppies.God bless

That intro has definite sounds of "Magic Woman Touch", there Rich😉 Must be showing me age. Thanks for another great video. 👍

Mince Pies we eat them all year round , home made by me , I batch bake but the family seem to know and descend on us, but they enjoy. happy cruising.

Really enjoyed this video actually it was a nice way to start my day but now off to work …. just really enjoy the canals and scenery and love that cafe boat how wonderful …. Just love your videos … safe travels 💛….. 💞📚💞

Always like ur narrowboat videos BEST, Thanks for sharing ur travels.

Hope you make it to Middlewich on time. Your boat looks lovely and cozy inside.

Lovely vlog, as usual. It's Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S. so that means a busy day of cooking and time spent with family and friends. The house is just waking up and this was the perfect bit of calm and quiet to enjoy over my coffee before things get hectic, so I thank you for the perfect timing of this post! The boat looks very cozy. Thank you for the tour Fran. Hope you made it to Middlewich in time!

Great cruise lots to see the wind did not affect the sound heard you loud and clear Swing bridge over the Manchester canal different fingers crossed you make it to Middlewich on time look forward to the next vlog Safe cruising Ed 40 S of Vegas

I certainly enjoyed this video and I appreciate you taking me along, I watched episode 181 first but it's all good, the landscapes and the buildings, living quarters I should say are quite easy on the eyes. The apartment dwellings are much the same as what we have here in Michigan but the snow I just don't care for in the least. The cruise was most enjoyable it seemed to be quiet and serene, I would really appreciate living in an area like that, during the summer months, lol. I'll close this out for now and get to the next video of 'wigan Flight'. Be safe and stay snuggled.

Loved that video guys, especially as know the areas that you were cruising through. My dad just to have a boat on the Bridgewater canal in the seventies so that may be a reason that I love these canal cruises so much, especially through familiar places. Thanks guys for sharing.

You've passed through some very familiar territory although Ive not seen it for several years. Still many unchanged views. Nice that you were able to travel through without locks or incidents. The Bridgewater is good for that. Looking forward to your next one. All the best from western Canada, Victoria BC

Really enjoyed the race !..all the places you travelled I know as I used to travel around due to my work as a decorator but never had the time to explore. Worsley is a great place and strange as it may seem but I'm sure that where you had your boat built I used to call at a canal side cafe for breakfast it was inside a boat builder in middlewhich ...my job was in Nantwich.....but never had the time to explore.....it was great to be reminded of the memories..

Slightly Envious of you in Sale - My local fish chips shop being converted to residential accom - didn't go often but when feel like them is SAD

We enjoy every video you do! The scenery is so beautiful. Loved the Laura Maisey tour. Yummy dinner and desert too. That was neat seeing a Cafe narrowboat too. Dogs are cute. Jerry says to tell you both Hi! From Arizona

Well done both. That wasn't the best weather for boating, apart from the one🎉 who wasn't driving! But you made it to where you intended and that's the main thing. See you next time.

Nice days of cruising around Manchester, Sale, Worsley... they're calling to me a bit. Maybe i'll visit in the Spring. Great to see your cosy provisions for the chilly weather. Look to the next installment - some very beautiful buildings and cottages there. Thanks, and give the two dogs a pat from me

Great vlog showing the what goes on outside and inside tasks....watching this tonight has taken my mind off my back op tomorrow!! Will you be restarting your PodCast soon?? While I,am recovering it would be great to listen to, I think you mentioned you might be.....?? Xx

Very good vlog I hope you may it luvely placeis you war going through all the best to fan and rich for now 😊

Nowt wrong with mince pies on any day of the year 😊

Nice vlog,through my neck of the woods,pity the Kings Ransom was shut,as I usually sit on the canalside decking with a pint while shopping in Sale,nice to see you both on Slowboat through Britains latest vlog today,just before the Curly Wurlys

I remember recently Gary captain Phillips passed those ocean liner buildings not long ago. I'm not a great lover of them, the old building next to them was much nicer in in it's current state. ❤️💙🐕🐕

Would love to have some of your music playlists

Hi Fran and Rich. That felt like you were really zipping along. Shame you didn’t have time to stop at RHS Bridgewater gardens. I’m wondering if I might have guessed where you are going to try and overwinter 😄🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Take care. Nick

Hi guys! On the move again. I'm with you on Deacon Blue. Saw them at Glastonbury back in about 1990, and they were excellent! Doesn't time fly? Stay warm> All the best.

I'm rather gutted you guys didn't get chance to witness Worsley and all its history, you pretty much travelled my commute to work every day in the early part of the video. I was sat there pointing things out like a guide lol "THAT'S the Premier shop our friend Robbie stopped off at for a pint of milk!" You've done some mega distance in those 2 days or so! Really hope you get to Middlewich in time! Are you going by the Anderton Boat Lift going that way? I'm not overly familiar with the canal layout that end of town. What a beautiful video I must say! Safe Travels ❤

Hi both. You would have loved Worsley quite a few soap stars and footballers live there as you could probably tell. Great vlog guys

Hello. Lovely vlog thank you. I want to ask about Mr d's slow cooker. I am sure you have mentioned it before and foxes afloat use it aswell? Is it a thermal cooker? And where can I get one please.? I am sure other people have asked. But haven't been able to read all the comments. It's lovely in the boat and so good to see you doing your journey together 😊

Great Vid, and fantastic music as usual, the intro tune sounds kinda like George Formby meets the Shadows. Give the doggies a rat, sorry, pat for me.

How many miles do you get per biscuit?

You have a pimple on your nose, but I guess that is the youth coming trough. Never underestimate 4K. Anyway, another great video from you both, love it :o)

that electric wheelchair left you in the dust

But how did the shepherds pie turn out? I may try this in my Mr D also

Great video again,,,, when the weather is cold and wet, why don't you cruise with the pram hood up? isn't that the purpose of them?? regards, Frank.

Looking for advice! When you run the engine to charge the batteries do you just run it at tick over? And for how long do you charge it? We have not got a clue!

Fran, your earrings about five minutes into the film, are they from Jo on Perseverance?

Hi Rich, can you cruise with the cover up in cold rainy weather?

How did you get on with the shepherds pie potatoes? We have not used the top pan in Mr D yet! Have you tried rice yet ?

Yes, yes... but where is the Christmas booze, hummmm...??

8 KMH = 5 mph think that right

Thanks guys for your interesting video. Wondered if you would mention the newish RHS Bridgewater Gardens as you passed them on the Bridgewater canal. Been there twice, really enjoyed it. Looking forward to your next 'life on the canal' video. Take care both of you, hope the weather improves for you. Autumn is a beautiful season especially for watercolour artists. I dabble a bit too!!👍

What happens to a boat when it sinks, like the ones you see on your travels.

Some reason I don’t see many cats cruising the channels

Sale Sharks rugby team

Another informative chilled vlog by you both not forgetting the 🐕‍🦺🐕, do you realise how important vlogs like yours have been over the last 4 years or so in helping people forget life's trials and tribulations for a while by immersing themselves in a different world.