UNFORGETTABLE 1,000 Mile Narrowboat Adventure of a lifetime! (Part 2) - Ep. 138.

Hello and welcome back. If you missed last week's episode, we are halfway through our 1,000 mile narrowboat journey We are. and we left you last week really about there just behind that boat. 🎶 Dah da da da 🎶 🎶 Dah da da da 🎶 🎶 Dah da da da 🎶 🎶 Dah da da da 🎶 Last week we showed you the launch and our first  500 miles and we left you on the Peak Forest Canal We're still here. and it's beautiful. Yes. [Music playing] We had to leave the Peak Forest eventually, although I could have stayed

here, Yeah. hence, that's why we're back now. Yeah. But we did have to leave and we went down the Macclesfield, where did get very cold very quick [Shaun] Very quick. onto the Trent and Mersey. Originally we were planning to do a right, well a left from the junction, but up the trent from mersey towards Middlewich. Yes. But we wanted to go through Harecastle Tunnel and just vlog that and have a quick trip to Westport Lake. How many times have we done Harecastle Tunnel now? I think it's four. We

did it once on the original boat We did, yes. and then we went down and back last, in 2019 Yep. and then we've been through it again this year, so four times we've been through Harecastle Tunnel. It's still my favourite tunnel. It's an easy tunnel. It is, it's nice and the fans and the big doors make it more interesting and the skeleton about 500 yards in. [Music playing] Designed by Thomas Telford, the tunnel's buried 640 feet beneath Harecastle Hill and it stretches 1.6  miles between Tunstal

l and Kidsgrove. You have to crouch down otherwise you'll bang your head on the roof of the tunnel, originally it had a towpath for horses to pull boats through the tunnel, but that was taken out in the 1970's, it just means the tunnel's a bit wider now. It takes about half an hour to get from one end to the other, it is freezing in here even during the summer, so make sure you wrap up warm, wear your waterproofs and watch out for that skeleton. [Music playing] I would have loved to have gone in

the original Brindley tunnel, even though it's falling down. [Colin] You know what i mean big big safety hat. [Shaun] It was a lot smaller as well wasn't it. Yeah. [Music playing] It wasn't long after we'd been through Harecastle in 2019, we got to Westport Lake that people started saying where's your kayak gone? [Laughs] It used to look like a coffin on the roof. [Laughing] Like a mummy, like a wrapped up mummy wasn't it It was yes. on the top of the boat. and we were getting comments from pe

ople saying, where's your kayak gone and if truth be known, we were waiting to go through Harecastle Tunnel and it had been raining quite heavily for a couple of weeks, [Shaun] A lot. [Colin] quite a lot and I had to store the kayak upwards way around, does that make sense? Yes it makes sense. You couldn't turn it upside down, it wasn't stable enough to store upside down. So we had like a waterproof cover for it, which wasn't waterproof No. and after two weeks of rain, we were waiting to go thro

ugh hair castle undid the straps to take it off to put it inside the boat. Because it was full of water It was so heavy. So what happened when I took the strap off, it just went [Spashing sound effect] Straight into the canal. So the waving us in to try and get us in the tunnel, meanwhile Shaun's at one side of the canal with a barge pole trying to push the kayak towards me and I'm at the other trying to pull it in. Which is very difficult because it was full of water. Then we had to empty it ou

t, get it out of the canal, dry it off and put it in the boat and my shoulders were hurting at the time, so we took a decision after one of us broke a camera at Westport Lake What? What?? What??? that the cost of a replacement camera was about the same as we would get if we sold the kayak. Hence we sold the kayak. So anybody that ever asks, 'where's your kayak gone' That's why. So don't ask again. [Laughs] [Music playing] We did eventually make it up towards  Middlewich, remember the guy? when

I was trying to film, talking about the Middlewich breech and he was just stood there [Laughs] and every time I moved, he'd just kind of appear again or he'd walk up the towpath 20 yards and then stand and stare from there and then walk back again when I started talking. [Shaun] Absolutely hilarious. [Colin] Weird. But we did make it down the Middlewich and  eventually onto the Shropshire Union to Nantwich. [Shaun] Oh I liked it in Nantwich. [Colin] It was really nice, it's like built on an emba

nkment that goes around the edge of the town, it was lovely, the moorings were lovely, apart  from the guy who tried to nick me bike that night. He was sorry. [Colin] and I was running  down the towpath in my pants [Laughing] and we were getting so many messages, oh you're running down the towpath in your pants. You're lucky I found pants on the way from the bed to the door otherwise there would have been some censoring going on. [Laughs] I don't know whether I'd have used pixel or blur. [Laughi

ng] I think blur, blur would have been more smoothing wouldn't it? [Otis howling] [Shaun] Oooooh! [Colin] Otis thinks blur as well. Yeah, are you good. [Music playing] The Shroppy was lovely, We had a couple of relaxing months on there I think, didn't we? We did. It felt like months, it might  have been three or four days. [Laughing] But we came off there and went  up the Wolverhampton flight, 21 locks, do you remember that really noisy mooring at the top? [Shaun] Oh god! Every ambulance and par

amedic in the West Midlands congregated in  Wolverhampton on the days we were there. It's so noisy because the canal is just below one of the busiest intersections isn't it. [Music playing] My favourite, one of my favourite shots that  always reminds me of the Birmingham vlog is that drone, remember the drone where we were coming in, we'd gone on to the new line  where it comes into Birmingham and I got the drone out and kind of got this sweeping shot of this train going towards the city centre

and it's a fantastic shot, I love it. What i didn't realise at the time is, I was stood right next to the prison [Laughs] and if they'd, it's like Liverpool all over again isn't it? Yes. if they'd have known, It wouldn't have been good. It would have been good, I'm surprised they didn't come out and arrest me to be honest. [Music playing] Birmingham. Once you get into Birmingham, it's actually really nice and it gets a bad reputation, I don't know why. I think if you're going to moor outside a p

ub and arestaurant, you're going to get some noise. [Shaun] You're going to get some rowdiness yeah. But we tend to moor around the corner where the Sealife Centrer is, the Exhibition Centre, it's a bit quieter. and I think the first thing I did was, I was straight into the Superdry shop. [Shaun laughs] True. [Colin] Mincing in with my bag. [Laughs] Mincing Spending my pocket money in the Superdry shop. [Laughs] But we love Birmingham, I think we  spent what, two three weeks there Yeah we did.

before we moved on? and then we went down the Worcester and Birmingham, just for a little bit and on to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, which I think it's a bit like, what's the other canal I was thinking of, where the upper part is alright  but the lower bit is nicer. Oxford? yeah the lower part of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was a lot nicer. Yeah it was. Lots of locks going right down towards Bancroft Basin, which is lovely, except we got there during the floods. So the River Avon was litera

lly a couple of inches [Shaun] from the top of the lock gate. The basin we were in, they have jetties, pontoons that float up and down with the flood water but there was only like that much give wasn't there? and the weather warnings were that the water  was going to get deeper so we were a bit eargghh! [Shaun] Biting nails. and then Shaun got food poisoning. Oh god yeah that was... fun. where his bowels literally explode. [Laughing] Didn't they? It's true. I heard this kind of whimpering in the

bedroom, [Laughing] which I'm used to after 28 years with him. [Laughing] But no, it was coming out of every orifice Oh it was bad. uncontrolled. It cost us a new bed, new bedding,  some new joggers, lots of new pants. Yeah. It wasn't pleasant was it? No. and then what did we do the day after? We went back for another Nando's. [Laughing] [Music playing] [Music fading] It was really nice though in Bancroft Basin we had  a lovely week down there before heading back up and stopping again at Lowson

ford, do you remember Lowsonford? [Shaun] Oh liked it there. [Colin] I absolutely loved it there. There's a pub called the Fleur de Lis, that's as in the pies. and they still make the pies, homemade pies and they are gorgeous. [Shaun] Boooootiful! with a pint of Guinness, well coke for me but Guinness for her It was lovely wasn't it? It was. and Josh, Josh was nice as well. Ufff! [Music playing] From Stratford we went back up on towards the Grand Union down to Warwick, Leamington Spa and it was

when we were in Leamington Spa that all the rumours were starting about restrictions and lockdown and we could kind of sense as you did at the time what was going to happen, so we went out towards Calcutt Boats to get stocked up on fuel and diesel, coal, water, everything that we needed and then when they announced lockdown we were at Napton Junction and originally we were going to go left at Napton Junction towards. . . Braunston and that's where the joke, we're not going to braunston came fro

m. Because we decided, because of the restrictions that it would be too busy in and around Braunston. Yeah. So we did a right onto the South Oxford and moored up at Marston Doles near the water point just out in the middle of nowhere and we saw like one person every couple of days walking, the farmer walking his dog. And it was a lovely spring. Beautiful, the weather was just amazing and literally spent three months. . . Naked. [Laughs] I didn't wear clothes for like three months, just outside t

he boat sunbathing and just sat outside and inside and it was just the most amazing three months wasn't it? Yes. and the location was brilliant it was just so beautiful there. and the Oxford then, it was just lovely all the way down towards the Thames. Yeah I think some of the the highlights of the Oxford was you rescuing the deer. Oh god yes, that was awesome. We were doing about this speed and a young lady walked by and said I think there's a deer in the lock. So we kind of put his foot down a

nd went from 2 miles an hour to 2.5 miles an hour. [Laughing] We ran towards the lock, we jumped off and ran towards a lock. [Shaun] We couldn't see it at first could we? [Colin] No, I ran down and I'm looking for it and couldn't see and it was right underneath me on a ledge, under a ledge and it wasn't moving, I thought it was dead when I saw it and I put my hand in to try and get it but I was holding a camera. Put my hand in and that panicked it, spooked it, so it started swimming down the loc

k. But Shaun was the hero of the day, he just literally grabbed the ball by the horn, apart of it being a deer and pulled it out and off it went. [Shaun] And it wasn't as heavy as I thought it was going to be. I was worried you were going to get gored. Gored? Yeah like [makes goring sound] [Laughs] Do you know what I mean? Yeah He kind of, if you watch the video again, the only  thing I feel bad about is the deer banged his chin as he kind of landed and you see him bang it  and I think oh no, I

hope he didn't get an ulcer. [Laughs] Do you know what I mean, or Better to bang his chin and drown. crack a tooth. [Music playing] When we got to the bottom of the Oxford, we had a choice of either going down into Oxford, which we'd heard wasn't a particularly nice bit of waterway or turning right at Duke's Cut and going on to the Upper River Thames and so we did it, we went on the Thames and to be honest it was beautiful. But that was like the point where everything started to go wrong. [Gentl

e piano music playing] [Music fades] [Gentle piano music playing] [Very load crashing sound] [Gentle piano music playing] Dillon died on the upper Thames and then of course we had the boat crash going further down and it was just, it was a bit of a rough patch Yeah but then again a lot of good things happened, I mean, lady milk. [Laughs] In Lechlade? We were trying to work out what Lechlade meant. Is that lady? Milk lady? Lady milk? [Laughs] No you cannot say that. [Laughing] You can't say that.

[Laughing] [Laughing] You'll have to start again now. [Laughing] Oh dear [Laughing] Then of course there was the skinny dipping. Yes! The Upper Thames was just lovely and we were having a bit of a heat wave, temperatures in the 30s and it was amazing just being able to jump in the  water, it was so clean up there towards Lechlade. just jump in and we were skinny dipping like every day. It was just amazing. [Music playing] And then of course the other good thing, it was where we got Otis [Shaun

] It was. and a new adventure started for him, you an probably hear him running up and down. He keeps running up and down. [Music playing] And then came the biggest adventure of all. Ohhhh! The Tidal Thames. We'd been planning Tidal Thames for at least two months? Well, you had. I had. We're at Teddington Lock and today we're going to go into London on the Tidal Thames. But it was weird at Teddington Lock that morning, because we knew what was coming and we had an idea what was coming. Yeah. Bu

t it was just so peaceful and quiet that morning. It was. Like the calm before the storm. But it was just like, I don't know,  it just felt awkward, it's like, like when you go to the doctor's and he says,  Colin you're gonna need to take your pants down. You know that kind of awkwardness [Laughs] that you feel. Has he ever done that to you? Cough? [Coughs] [Laughs] And to start with it was alright, it was  just like the Upper Thames wasn't it? Yeah. because the tide had come in, we have to go

at a certain time because we want to catch the Ebb Tide going back out. So as we come out of Teddington Lock, [Shaun] It's a Slack Tide isn't it? [Colin] it was pretty still, yeah and then you don't realise how fast you're going as you're going down the Thames. It's not until you pass a bridge and you're closer to it you realise [Shaun] How fast you're going. [Colin] You are going fast. But going through, I mean central London, of the twenty odd miles, it is just that six mile stretch in central

London isn't it? [Shaun] Absolutely awesome perspective from the river. To see all these sights that you know, you've seen on TV, we've seen when we're there. To see them from the perspective of the river is just mind-blowing and nothing comes close to going under that centre arch at Tower Bridge. [Adventure music playing] [Excited Laugh] Awesome. That is just the most amazing thing, going under the centre arch of Tower Bridge in London. That is by a mile a million miles our most favuorite thin

g on narrowboat Silver Fox, ever. That is just an amazing sight. [Adventure Music Playing] [Click] [Adventure Music Playing] [Adventure Music Playing] [Click] [Music fading] [Music fading] [Click] [Music fading] [Click] [Click] [Click] [Click] And then it gets complicated, because we have to go further down and we have to do that turn, which I'd kind of practiced in my head, So I knew what was going to happen, I knew where to go, where to turn, the blasts on the horns and everything like that. B

ut it was still scary, because we'd heard so many scary stories about that turn into Limehouse, Yeah. about boats getting slammed into the wall on either side We were close. [Colin] and we literally came like two inches didn't we? [Shaun] We were close. We literally came two inches, but we made it. And then once you've got through Limehouse Lock, which in itself is a weird experience, because there's no sluices. [Laughs] So they basically open the gates to let water in and I'm stood at the front

with the rope and the camera and he opened this sluices and the water's just coming towards me and I was like, swearing. [Shaun] Oh my god! [Laughs] And going back was different,  because we came down in the morning, It was a Sunday as well. Yeah, Sunday morning, so it's  like seven, eight, nine o'clock. We got to limehouse, 10 something. Yeah, we'd hardly seen, I think we'd seen one other boat. Yeah, it had been really quiet and then going back out it was the afternoon. So it was busy with tra

ffic. The trip boats were out, the Uber boats were out, the barges were out and it was a lot busier so the river was a lot more choppy, so it was a different experience. Yeah it was yeah. and the heat. It was the hottest day of the year, about 35, 36 maybe 37 degrees. Yeah it was, yes. We were absolutely boiling and I couldn't jump in the river that time to cool down. [Shaun] Ohhh not in that part. but it was a relief to come off at Brentford wasn't it? [Shaun] It was amazing feeling to get back

on a canal. We'd been on the river for about two months I think, maybe just over two months Maybe a bit longer yeah. and we were ready to come off it, even though the adventure had been amazing, we were ready to come off. And we thought once we got back on the canal that's it nice and peaceful again. And it wasn't because that first Within the M25 really isn't it? Yeah within the, well I mean, as faras maybe towards Milton Keynes nearly 80 miles away, it's still busy because so many people want

 to live and work and commute into London. [Shaun] So all the mooring spaces are taken up. [Colin] Yeah and there's just some of them are like shantytowns aren't they, that seem to move every couple of weeks another mile up the canal. Yeah. So the opportunities for moorings were quite limited, but I think once we got past Milton Keynes it was more like the canals  that we knew again wasn't it? It was yeah. [Music playing] Some of the lovely places coming back up that's never really thought about

, like Stoke Bruerne was lovely Oh yeah. and then as we came further back up to places like Rougely. [Shaun] I thought Rougely was quite nice. I loved the story of the murder, the bloody steps and also the Rougely Poisoner and all these  little stories that you never think about and the countryside was lovely as we were getting further north again. Yes. [Music playing] Once we got to Etruria and went through all the virus malarkey, a few weeks we'd like to forget. Yes! We got the Caldon and my e

xperience of the year after tower bridge was definitely the Churnet Valley Railway [Shaun] Oh that day you turned into a child. I don't care. [Laughs] I don't care. [Laughs] If you've got a steam railway or a steam train and you're gonna let me on board  and have a go, get in touch, love to do a vlog on that. You'll be sorry. From there we bombed it up the Trent and Mersey and the Macclesfield back onto the Peak Forest Canal and that's where we are right now. Yes. We've been here over Christmas

and New Year just chilling out, getting his energy back, recovering. We've had a lovely few weeks. and we're ready to get off again. New adventure for 2021, we've got another thousand miles to cover. Where do you want to go, what do you want to do? Errrr I'd like to do The Wash, or the Mersey, or the River Severn. I'd like a long hot bath and some donuts. Easy sorted. [Laughs] Join us for the next thousand miles. it's going to be a blast. If you're not already please  subscribe to the channel, t

here's a button down there to do that. Hit the like button, the thumbs up. You were a bit late there. I was late, I was. If you want notifications every time we release a new video hit the notifications bell and YouTube will let you know, four o'clock every Friday. If you don't know that by now, ooooh they'll be trouble. If you want to help support the channel, there's a link just above Shaun's head unless you're watching on a telly when there isn't. That'll take you to Patreon but there's all s

orts of exclusives and perks and things like that. Or you can do it on YouTube, become a YouTube member there's a link on our home page, it's the join button, just hit that. Right are we off because I'm freezing. Yes, it's cold. Ugghhhh! Hopefully it'll warm up, join us next week, take care of yourselves, see you later, bye bye Ta-ra [Music playing] [Music fading]