Waterways guides & our first Windlass...

Yesterday was a big day for us.

Our first Windlass arrived thanks to Ebay (other auction sites are available - apparently)...

Isn't she beautiful?  - Those of you with good eyesight may notice the plastic revolving handly bit is scratched to buggery.  That's not down to poor post and packaging no... it's due to the fact she's second hand - I'm afraid the Yorkshire man in me (usually quite well suppressed) came out and I refused to spend twice the money on a new one!  On this occasion however, it wasn't totally fiscally related... for whatever reason, I actually find it exiting to think of the journeys it's already been on... the balmy summer days going through the Greenberfield Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool... or a misty autumn morning heading down into Braunston.

Of course she COULD have been yogged at a spouse in anger, knocking some poor buggar into the canal killing them! - er, perhaps we'll stick with the more romantic possibilities for now ;-)


Yesterday ALSO marked the final acquisition of Nicholson's Waterways Guides too:

We'd been waiting for the re-print/updated Book 1 which covers the Grand Union, Oxford and the South East - or to be frank... LONDON.   For months, new copies just werent available...  you could buy a 2nd one on Ebay for silly money - I spotted one being advertised with a buy- it-now price of £100... Only a daft desperate Londoner would pay that amount... I suppose it was a case of supply and demand governing the price.  AS we were simply completing our collection, we were happy to wait for WHSmiths to send it when it came available... 

You'll note the price on the rear.  Yep -  they are a bit steep...  which got me thinking about prices in the past.  Looking through our collection of Canal paraphernalia (read books - get it?)... there are few older ones kicking about.  

  and an earlier one still: 

Andy's dad actually gave us a load of books/leafleets hes collected over the years...  I'm slowly working my way through them.

George (the cat) didn't come with them - he's just having one of his Sunday morning "I'll sit where I like cause it's my house" moments...

History didn't used to interest me if I'm honest... I suppose, the older you get, and thus become PART of it, a new found respect is inevitable !

Until next time...