Narrow boat for sale

Here is The Dove of Belgrade, which has been gradually renovated throughout and is pretty much ready to be snapped up by a buyer to move on and cruise away (or maybe we will just keep her!!). The interior is almost complete and I am finishing off touching up the exterior.

She is 65foot of British Steel made by Hancock and Lane in 1976 with a Cruiser Stern and easy access to a Lister 3 cylinder Diesel Engine (Air Cooled). She has distinctive Hancock and Lane curves and a canoe bow and with plenty of windows is spacious and bright. We have been the proud owners for the past 4 years and sadly due to ill health we are looking to sell her on. She makes an ideal liveaboard for a couple looking for the good life. She is two berth with the room for a comfortable guest. 

Starting at the stern. Coming in the from the cruiser stern are steps into the galley with a view right through the boat to the delightful multi-fuel stove in the lounge. 

There is a gas cooker and oven/grill, a 12volt fridge and sink with drainer.  

There is plenty of surface space and storage space in the galley. The rug can be lifted and cleaned and the conker brown hardwood floor is easy to mop

In the galley is a cupboard with the fuse box and battery level indicator. Also, the galley has a Morse gas hot water boiler and the water pump is in easy reach, under the sink.

Fresh herbs and dry herbs by the galley are ready to be cooked up into a fantastic meal!

A classic canal boat stool for relaxing and soaking up the good life!

Through the door is the bathroom with pump out toilet, vinyl flooring, storage shelving, mirrored wall providing full length view, wash basin and behind a shower curtain is a powerful shower and shower tray.

From the bathroom is the beginning of the lounge with a beautiful a pine wood storage cupboard with space below seating area with the possibility to convert to dining area in the future.

The lounge is open plan. It is light whilst being cosy and with a modular sofa can be adapted to suit any occasion. The modular sofa can also be used as a guest bed. The curtains were handmade by my mother and I, and keep out any drafts. There is a long solid wood shelving unit and steps to the side hatch.

On either side of the boat are steel hatches which are covered on the inside by handmade curtains. 

The centre piece in the lounge is the Morso Squirrel Multi-fuel stove which provides enough heat for the whole boat.

There is a separate room behind the stove wall which had a small hand basin with hand pump and porta-potti. This space has the possibility to be used in a range of ways, small office space, walk in wardrobe, storage space etc.

Then we have the bedroom with a full size double bed and doors leading to the bow where the anchor and water hose are kept.

There is 12volt electricity supply provided by two 6 volt traction batteries as well as a 300volt inverter to provide a supply of 240volts. There is a sureline connection for 240volts if mooring or to use with a generator. The water tank is 100litres housed in the bow. 

She is such a beautiful boat, remarked by all who visit her and I am so sad to let her go. But she needs to be lived on and cruised as her makers intended and I am happy to sell her for her to have another life with someone else.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested.

Bungalow home in the Dales

Welcome back followers and hello new readers! Over the past four months we have relocated to the Derbyshire Dales for some time to rest and indulge in homely comforts. In our character bungalow we have all the delights of central heating, bathing and a super quick gas fire! Our belongings from the boat have surprisingly filled the place along with a few new (rather Sue Ryder charity shop buys) additions, including a lovely dinning room table and chairs. 

In our green environment, we have been surrounded by climbing ivy and stone, with artful dry-stone walling surrounding the area.

I have been spending some time with my fingers sunk into the earth, weeding in the front garden and planting garlic and onion sets ready for summer. I have even picked up some bargin fruit bushes and planted these in the back.

 This is our house on the hill, in 'middle England'.

We are perfectly positioned for a view down into the valley.

I have been on a few walks around this area and discovered that the hill above our home looks out from an abundance of ferns toward the hills of the Peak District.

And through the woods across the way, I came across this love nest...

in between the stones mosses and grasses are growing happily. 

From the hill behind, looms Riber Castle, at one time a Zoo, until the creatures were freed, it is now undergoing conversion to flats. 

And at the bottom of the hill is the fresh flowing River Derwent.

Commuting to Nottingham has it's delights and trials. The train in the morning winds through elegant countryside through to Derby and on towards Nottingham. It was taking me four hours a day commuting there and back which was tiresome, however with a new set of wheels from the lovely folks in Falkirk, we are a 'go-go', there and back in 3 hours.

One delight to having our homely house is that with a second bedroom we have had lots of guests staying, which was not a possibility on our floating home. During this time, we have, with the help of mother bird and brotherly love, been renovating The Dove of Belgrade to be ready to be sold. See my next post for details of this. 

Love, Amanda

Delia on Derbyshire

I conducted a brief interview with Delia Derbyshire on the county of Derbyshire.

Delia, tell me about Derbyshire...

I've skirted the county on my boating travels and have found the rolling hills very easy on the eye. I have been informed that the Peak District has a superb landscape, which I am keen to explore. I experienced a lot of love in the canal area of the county, and would often be greeted on the towpath and welcomed into people's gardens. I'm sure this is quite the same within the Peaks.

Your name seems familiar, can you tell me more?

I was originally born and raised in Wollaton, Nottingham and was known as Rocky. However, I was saved from an over-crowded household and spent my formative years in Carrington, Nottingham where I learnt to climb the curtains and the trees. During this time, I was renamed Delia Derbyshire a rather quaint name indeed. I was named after an electronic pioneer who worked in the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. She was rather beautiful, weird and wise. In cat form, I like to think I am much the same and will often walk across the laptops around the home to see what wonderful sounds I can create in my four legged wake.

I hear you maybe relocating to Derbyshire, can you elaborate?

Between you, me and the bowl of sardines I can reveal that yes my paws shall be exploring the area of Matlock in the very near future. Quite honestly it sends a shiver down my fur as I realise I am being called home.

Delia Derbyshire, I would just like to say thank you for your time. And in the name of the pioneer Delia Derbyshire, may your sonic explorations live on!

Beeston Marina

Our lovely mooring at Beeston feels like a retreat, far from the City of Nottingham, moored up on the wooden pontoon the boat gently swaying with the flow of the current on the river Trent and outside of the cabin windows, the delightful beginning of Attenborough Nature Reserve.

I've got a the week off work and have been soaking up the environment around us from my new favourite seating spot outside...

The weather has been very mixed with heavy rain showers and glaring sunshine, a strange summer so far. It has been fascinating and frightening to watch the speed of the river flow increase as whole trees were swept over the frothing weir. The boat is well secured to the pontoon and is positioned with the bow pointing against the flow so the water breaks around the boat. As I watch the surface of the river around us, from what seems like nowhere, there suddenly appears whirls and ripples, as the constant movement of the water dances and chases it's tail.

The pontoon is one long strip which ends with a sudden stop. Stood on the edge looking into the pull of the hypnotizing river is quite unnerving. There are a mix of Narrow Boats and Cruisers on this stretch and we are by far the largest. Leigh was congratulated by another long-standing boater for his Captain skills at manouvering all 65 foot of steel into the marina pontoon.

We have been met with kindness and friendly faces here, from fellow boaters and the marina employees, which is making our idea of moving off the boat a little sad to come to terms with. However, we have good things lined up for our next chapter of the adventure, so more will follow about that soon.

Whilst overlooking the beautiful greenery of the Nature Reserve, I decided to go for a walk and explore the muddy paths in the woods and the lakes surrounding them. It was such a joy, I was met with colours, bird song, swaying trees, water dopplets falling from leaves, bridges, benches, shadows and mirroring, shimmering lakes stretching wide...

We have had good luck this week too, after preparing the boat for the Boat Safety Certificate on Tuesday, we have passed with flying colours and received a new Certificate to cover us for the next 4 years.

And so, Leigh and I look forward to a pending visit by a good friend from the North-East and our moves out to Derbyshire.

Weir

One evening, Leigh and I took a walk to the weir via Beeston Lock which is completely shut whilst the River is in flood. With such a backlog of debris BW have their work cut out at clearing it up.

As you can see the indicator board (bottom left of the photo below) is showing red so boats currently cannot get on to or off the River.

The weir was quite breathtaking and the charging water appeared more like the sea than river....

The sound of crushing water was immense...

Changes

Big changes are afoot. Over the past few months our cruising of the waterways has been very limited, partly due to the immense rain and rivers in flood, partly due to work commitments as well as a lack of physical fitness and issues with the engine. As a result, we have been 'bobbing' around Nottingham trying not to get in the way of grumbling boaters and jobworths at BW. We have been scrimping to get by to pay the license each month and cover maintenance costs. I have made the final payment today for the license, horrah! and it isn't due again now until 1st January 2013. We have however replaced this payment with mooring fees, and we are now on a pontoon mooring at Beeston Marina.

The pontoon is based on the River Trent and we are moored on the inner side, much to my delight, as we face the wooded walk into Attenborough and are a safe distance from the rushing weir.

We moved here this evening as the water level for the river was just on the proceed with caution warning. We left the steady canal through Beeston Lock where there is no need to use a windlass to open the paddles as this lock has them welded in place. As we headed out on the river the boat felt slow and sluggish facing the flow of the river. We decided to give it a go to head along the pontoon via the facilites mooring point. Now, in a 40foot boat this would be a sinch. 65foot of steel however and a moored boat in the pathway to access the pontoon, plus the rough current and the odds were against us. Overall this didn't make it an easy situation and we were dragged away from our course bashing into the moored boat and then careering into the footbridge and were wedged between the bridge and boat for a short while. We removed the chimney and bike from the roof to enable us to get under the footbridge and with a bit of barge pole action we were back on course heading under the bridge as opposed to into it and gently passed the moored narrowboats and cruisers along the pontoon. Phew! Rivers sure are tricky. Now we plan to stay put until further notice.

Delia seems to be coping well for her first evening on the pontoon and has been checking out the other boats around us.

Our lovely home is warm from the glowing burner to keep away the damp rainy day and the indoor window-box garden is doing splendidly...

The bush tomatoes have an abundance of flowers and the basil is broadening out like a tree.

My parsley is looking happy too!

There is movement in the water and changes in the air as we stir up the cooking-pot of possible pathways and watch the settling of choices we make.

I pose the question into the ether: Will Delia Derbyshire be living in Derbyshire soon?