Month: April 2026

Is Nuneaton the saddest town in the UK?

One of the joys of cruising on a Narrowboat is spending time in the places we visit. For instance on this trip I had a fascinating day uncovering the history of Banbury, and a wonderful afternoon immersing myself in the delights of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

So on Wednesday when we were moored near Nuneaton, I hopped on a bus to find out more about the town. I asked the lady sat next to me on the bus what I should see and she laughed. Others around us quickly joined in, and told me that there is nothing to see in Nuneaton anymore, except a statue of George Eliot in the town centre.

Nuneaton used to be a thriving market town. Situated near Coventry and Birmingham, and with good canal, train and road links, it was one of the largest towns in Warwickshire. Originally based around ribbon weaving and coal mining, it was also famous for hat making and leather work (especially shoes). The town centre was largely destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, and was completely redeveloped in the 1960s, with an inner ring road, shopping mall and department stores.

And it has pretty much all gone. The factories and mills have closed. The department stores have gone bust. The beautiful mall is full of boarded up shops. The market is a shell of what it once was. Such a sad town.

But the people I met were friendly and positive. I found a great café for breakfast, and all the locals wanted to talk to me about life on a boat. So, possibly the saddest town but not the saddest people. Good luck to them.

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Is it summer already?

What a great time to be on a Narrowboat. The week with some pretty rough weather, and narrowboats do not like wind. The wind blows the boat sideways and we had to moor up to avoid getting stuck. But by Tuesday we had wall to wall sunshine.

It has been like summer. But better. We wake up to cool crisp mornings. The sun builds through the day and if we moor up at lunchtime, we have a relaxed afternoon in the warmth before the temperature drops again in the evening. In the summer it stays hot all the time and sleeping can be a challenge.

The forecast for the weekend is back to typical April temperatures, but I have enjoyed this week. There are not too many positive sides to climate change but on the canals this is one of them. Spring is the new Summer.

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What is the best name for a Narrowboat?

Our Narrowboat is called “Thuis”. It attracts much comment on the cut, because it is such an unusual name. People try to pronounce it and usually get it wrong. It is actually a Dutch word and means “home”. You pronounce it to rhyme with “house” but beginning with a “t” instead of an “h”. It is a good name but perhaps there are better ones.

“Toblerhome” has been moored just up from us in Oxford this week. Other favourites of mine are “NotaYot” on the Staffs and Worcester, and “Flat Bottomed Girl” which I think is on the Leeds & Liverpool.

The most popular Narrowboat names reflect the peace and quiet of boating life. There must be a hundred boats called “Serendipity”, and plenty more called “Moon Shadow”, “Blue Moon” and “Dreamcatcher”. There are also many “Dun” names, reflecting retirement, such as “Dunworkin” and “Dunstressin”.

Then you get the hire boat fleet names. Usually these follow a pattern. For instance Balck Prince use women’s names on all their boats, while College Cruisers names all theirs after Oxford university colleges.

I think the most annoyed owners must be the ones with a boat called “Narrow Escape”. This is quite a clever name, but since the “Narrow Escapes” TV series, it seems very obvious.

Unfortunately it is not easy to change a boat name. Superstition says that if you just change the name and continue using it, Poseidon will come from the depths of the oceans and drag you and the boat down. You can change the name when the boat is out of the water for maintenance, or you have to perform a a ceremony involving chanting to the sea Gods, and casting an ingot with the old name on, into the water. This is what we did when we named our boat “Thuis”.

Have you seen any great boat names on your travels? What is your favourite?

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