Why

We are lucky, we have made sacrifices to get lucky, and it's not a life for everybody for sure,but we were not happy with the day to day pointless way of life we had in Shaftesbury,both working flat out, to pay for a house and it's maintenance and improvement, when in reality we hardly used a third of the property on a daily or even weekly basis, so the decision to down size had already been made, but where ? We had moved house 7 times in 15 years, always looking for the perfect place and property, never settling for long before looking for the next spot, or planning major change to the existing house, both told us things were still not right, so a small house afloat, that moves with our want, to see parts of England and Wales at our leisure, and we could stop working, well a no brainer, if you can endure the down sides, no running water ( well it does but you have to keep filling the tank up ) no mains drainage, choice of a cassette loo ( empty every 3 to 4 days )  or a pump out ( sleep on top of 100 gallons of......well you know ) and there are many other things too that could put people off, as I said at the start, we are lucky, and I am even more so than most having a wife who not only backs our new life, but actively encouraged it. at the moment, we on the whole,  love it, when and if we get tired, well, we will think again.

Bridges........Quite handy if you need to get to the other side.

Crossover or snake bridge, takes the towpath to the other side as well as traffic, 

Classic stone bridge, on the Mac there are plenty of these,and craftsman built all.

modern bridge ( sorry to show it again ) is it the skill we now lack, money,or passion for beauty and quality?

Rope marks, cut into the stone by years of horse pulled narrow boats, or marks caused by my early attempts to steer Micky Jay under them!!!

Bridges are also a handy spot to block off the water should the canal breech it's banks, or need draining for maintenance work, as they are a strong point, and the canal often narrow to pass beneath. these boards are stored by the bridge in readiness for such an event.

The slots to fit the boards in can be seen, bottom centre and top  of the picture.

Day to day stuff ticks along as usual here, though not as much tea and coffee is being consumed as normal for Ali forgot to leave the recipe .
We have a cool grey day here, I doubt the solar panels will do the job ( roll on the extra ones next month ) so I may have to start the engine !! Ali knows I hate to do this, as it seems crazy to fire up the beast in the 'ole just to charge up some batteries, it's not just the fuel, or wear and tear on our Barrus Shire lump, it also eats into our engine service hours, we need to change filters and oil, every 250 hours, and if your unit is running for a couple or three hours every day, without actually moving, well doesn't feel right, to me anyway.
Well better go now before I start going on about bridges again.

Bye for now,
Baz and two Yorkies.