We were travelling up a set of locks on the Shropshire Union canal this week, when I came upon this sad cuddly toy sitting by the lock.
I say “sad” for multiple reasons. Tigger himself looks sad – as if he is missing his owner. The soft toy is looking weather beaten. And I am guessing his owner must also be sad. Tigger looks well loved and someone somewhere will be wanting to give him a hug.
There must be so many special cuddly toys that over the years have been lost or forgotten. I am fortunate enough still to have my blue lamb from my childhood which in point of fact is a grey donkey, but I still call him “blue lamb”. One of my sons had a “puffalump” that became so worn with love that we secretly replaced it one night with an identical one, even going so far as to cut off a strap that had come off the original. My other son use to twiddle cushions and when he is tired (aged 34) still does so.
I guess it is something to do with feeling secure and safe. A special cuddly toy is an important thing to most of us. Where is yours?
The weather right now is just about perfect for being on a narrowboat. We are waking up to cold crisp mornings with mist rising off the canal. We are getting really beautiful sunrises, sunsets and dramatic moons. During the day the temperature is rising to low twenties – warm enough for shorts and t-shirts.
Narrowboaters are notorious for complaining about the weather. It is either too hot because we live in a tin can, or too cold, because our fingers are going numb driving the boat. It is either too wet, so we don’t want to move the boat, or it is too dry, with water levels falling. It is either too windy, making turning impossible, or too still , encouraging biting insects. We are never happy.
But this week we are. So many smiling faces as we have passed fellow boaters on the Llangollen and Shropshire Union Canals this week. In truth, while I complain, I love living on a narrowboat in all weathers. But this is a very special time of year. Peaceful and very very beautiful.
Thinking back to pre-retirement, I would have been busy in an air conditioned office, missing the weather completely. I loved working but this is so much better.
It has been the quietist summer on British canals for many years. Volunteers from the Canal & River Trust tell me that boat numbers are down a third on last year. There are many reasons for this including a post Covid desire to go abroad, prices being too high from hire companies, and the very wet weather. However that has all changed since the beginning of September and this week on the Llangollen canal has been as busy as any I can remember,
The Llangollen is notoriously a very busy canal and we would not usually have chosen to travel it till later in the month. Often when the kids have gone back to school, retirees get their boats out of the marinas and busy the network. But we had the opportunity to travel with Mandy’s two brothers and their partners, who we’re hiring a boat for a week. It has been a lovely week. We have been down to the very end of the pretty Montgomery Canal, and then along to Llangollen, over the famous Pontcyscyllte aqueduct.
For some reason I don’t understand it is not just old folk like us on the canal this week. Every hire firm seems to have been fully booked for the first time this year, and the cut is full of holiday boaters., We have met groups from America, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden as well as English and Welsh. Why are they all travelling this week?
It has made some of the navigating a little tricky. There was one moment where I thought there would be a standoff between the queue of westbound boats who could not get into a single track tunnel because of boats coming the other way, and a queue of eastbound boats who could not leave the basin after the tunnel because of boats on the aqueduct coming the other way.
Having said that, it has been a really lovely week, full of beauty, adventure, engineering and family. Not a bad way to spend a week… and my life.
I was in a shop in Oswestry this week and found Prime energy drinks at half price. I think it was just a couple of years ago that these drinks were released and for a while became an obsession amongst some groups of young people. There were limited supplies and drinks would exchange hands at well over the asking price. So I decided to try the blue raspberry and see what all the fuss was about.
It was disgusting. The strongest flavour was artificial sweeteners, followed by a slightly acid taste. There was certainly no flavour of raspberry. I admit the hit of caffeine was pleasant enough but I would certainly not buy it again. A classic example of trend over reality.
Let me instead sing the praises of retro soft drinks. These can be found at a bargain price and for my taste are so very much better. Most are from Scottish drinks company Barr.
I have to start with Tizer. Bright flashing red colour, it would originally have been made with enough food dye and levels of sugar to send a small child into a Tasmanian devil. These days the sugar has been much reduced and colourings are natural, but the flavour of red and citrus fruits sill dominate. Originally conceived in Manchester as “Pickup’s Appetiser” it is a favourite of mine.
Another Barr staple is their Cherryade. Of all these drinks this is the one that actually tastes of the fruit – although perhaps the dark bottled maraschino cherries you get in cocktails, rather than fresh fruit. When I worked in Scotland I had a friend who worked at Barr and would get me slabs of 24 cans at a a time for next to nothing. Needs to be drunk cold but very refreshing.
The most famous Barr drink is Irn Bru. With the slogan “Made with girders” it does indeed actually contain iron, as well as bright orange colouring and secret flavours. Scotland is the only country in the world that does not have Coca Cola as its favourite soft drink, preferring this temptation. It also used to be the go-to hangover cure north of the border because of unfeasibly high levels of sugar. There was stockpiling in 2016 when these were reduced. I choose the “Extra” version these days because it has no calories but still that original flavour.
The one soft drink I would celebrate that is not made by Barr is Vimto. Launched in 1908 in Blackburn Lancashire it was originally “Vimtonic” a herbal drink found in temperance bars, as an alternative to alcoholic drinks. The fruit flavours of blackcurrant, raspberry and grape were added in 1920 to make the drink we see today. As well as the fizzy pop, I really like the squash version – my chosen drink when navigating locks on the canal.
All of these retro drinks are leagues ahead of Prime, Monster and other so called energy drinks. What do you think? Are you a retro drinker? Do you have your own favourite – cream soda, limeade, or bubblegum perhaps? Are you a die hard fan of Coke or Pepsi? Or can you explain why anyone would drink Prime?
I’m off to find some orange lucozade. See you next week.
Pete's Blog 