Narrowboatboy’s Big, Bad Blog...Narrowboat & Travel blog based on Lancaster Canal

The day has come, the bags are packed and it's time to 'saddle up the palomino'. With all my worldly belongings fitting snugly into two hold-alls it's off to pick up the wheels for the journey. Ironically the sun is shining as I depart on the initial leg of the one way Euro trip. Next stop, Kingston Upon Hull, the 2017 City of Culture....WTF?...Really? Home of The Housemartins, Fine Young Cannibals and lefty heavyweight boxing champion of yesteryear, John Prescott? I'm not sure how a constituency with that pedigree got through to the finals but now what do I care, it's only a stepping stone on the way to pastures new. And if it gets me away from all the misleading electioneering lies and counter lies then it couldn't come sooner, but I wish you well with it and whether it's Corbyn, May or Les Dennis that wins eventually,  I'm sure they will wrap themselves up in a Union Jack flag and concoct some delusional plan to re-unite the cou...

OFFICIAL SENSITIVE: The time has come the walrus said To talk of many things Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax Of cabbages and kings And why the sea is boiling hot And whether pigs have wings.... And the time really has come! You might think the above poem by Lewis Carroll makes no sense whatsoever but it's nothing compared to the Jabberwocky I have just left behind....so if you have a minute....read a while, as I have good news indeed to report... ..moving forward ! I now no longer have to retain pages of pointless passwords that include a capital letter, 4 consonants , 2 numbers, a pound sign, 3 colons and an exclamation mark that when read backwards resemble a swear word that  IT Helpdesk  operatives really don't approve of.  As from today I am no longer just an  'm ' number that tirelessly updates  SOP12 , agonises over  WR , interrogates  CTS , inputs  IMIS  or even gives an  IFN  about addi...

There is something about accepting invites to functions that you know nothing about or why or what they are really for. So filled with trepidation at being the only Englishman since the battle of Flodden in 1513 to be allowed in the heart of Hawick, to help celebrate the ardent Scottish tradition of riding the Borders to keep out the pesky, good-for-nothing English we found ourselves seated at the top table as guests of the newly elected Hawick Cornet. Now, with the unsuspected enemy secreted within, the night got underway as we were piped in amidst much cheering and clapping by the local drum and fife band and seated as honoured guests of the Cornet and Cornets Lass.  Being sat on the top table we were entertained vocally with songs of liberation and honour of thwarted heroes of old, described through banner waving laments and tales of valour and bloodshed, twixt the banks of the River Teviot and the Auld toon O' Hawick. All sung passionately by elderly reivers who in tu...

For any newbies to this blog I will explain first that its predominantly for ME and not really for YOU , it's a outlet for my creative juices to flow and congeal. A means to capture memories and thoughts, consisting primarily of my musings interspersed with  blatant lies, odd photo's, inane ramblings, occasional moaning, ruminative thoughts and fatuous observations of life as I erroneously understand it... I've always travelled and I've always written so a blog seemed the obvious modern progression to previous scribblings, so I shall try to continue until the day comes that I can't and I get shoved in to the flames.... If you choose to read then all well and good! Each sporadic post I publish will always have the same format - a song title track that I own to title the blog post and then some seamlessly linked creative content within. The music is the important bit and will usually be worth a listen if you have the time. I must make it clear that at NO point in th...

When I first decided to try to teach myself Italian this was the first thing I read:- 'There are four types of REGULAR verbs: One with infinitives ending in -ARE, one with infinitives ending in -ARE  and two with infinitives ending in -IRE' Jesus!, It made absolutely no sense and made me cringe with cranial cramps. It's like Cryptophasia but your on your own!...(I will wait for you to google it!) Are you back?.....then Andiamo! It also made me think back to the poor woman that tried to teach me CSE French and I remember thinking at the time as to why this woman was trying to teach me these ridiculous foreign words as I would NEVER be going that far from home?  Needless to say I failed, but if the need ever arose I could always tell someone in the Dordogne that had lost their cat that,  ' it was behind the house' in fluent French, albeit with a Lancashire twang! A few months on and some of it is starting to sink in; my useless suede can now retain a few simple words ...

Yes, the rumours are true.... The preparations are being made for departure so watch this space and subscribe for future instalments..... Ciao for Now Sent from my iPad