We did bump inot at Foulridge, but did not make the program.

Highly recomend watching it.

The post Celebrity Britain by Barge:Then and now appeared first on Lady Teal.

Lookout for December Waterways World as it has a great article on Hotel Boats. Obviously everyone looking at this post is aware of Hotel Boats on the British Waterways but a lot of people are not

It is quite surprising how long we have been going as an industry and it is great to see new hotels in London, like the Boathouse in Paddington.

For no reason, other than I love them, I will end with the picture of a sunset on the canal

The post Waterways World does Hotel Boats appeared first on Lady Teal.

There have been some huge storms around but they have passed us by. We have been basking in heat and sun forever it seems.

All the youngsters are doing well on it, see below, and it has been lovely, if a bit warm for some of the flights.

The new time limits on Wigan seem to be really good and we have to say the team there are superb, volunteers and seasonals.

The post What wonderful weather and great sights for Lady Teal appeared first on Lady Teal.

There is a new regime now for coming into and out of Liverpool and I have to say I think it is a lot better.  It removes a lot of the time pressures that existed when you had to rush from bridge to bridge and to the locks, also you used to have to leave Salthouse at 8 but now it is up to 9.30, much more civilised.

So a lovely sail out and then a glorious sunset as we finished up dinner.

As those of you who regularly look at my ramblings know, and I hope there are some out there, I do love a good sunset.

There has been no post processing on this shot, though I do have to admit it was slightly underexposed in order to enrich the colours, I hope you like it.

The post Leaving Liverpool, and yes a sunset!! appeared first on Lady Teal.

We were supposed to be coming in yesterday but a hydraulic hose broke at one of the bridges. CRT were amazing and on a bank holiday Sunday the fitters came out and the specialist van to make up a new pipe. They got it all fixed and we passed through spending the evening at Litherland and then coming down Stanley flight at 10 this morning.

It was lovely run through the docks and into our mooring in Salthouse Docks.

The post Another Lovely run into Liverpool on Lady Teal appeared first on Lady Teal.

So plenty of Italian food, Italian wine and Italian music, I even try to serve the dishes using their Italian names!

It’s fun to have a bit of variation and to challenge Gina with managing to put it all together.

Saluti

The post Every one is ready for Italian night on Lady Teal appeared first on Lady Teal.

When I was on a barge holiday in the early 1980’s I never thought that one day I would be skippering a hotel boat on the Leeds Liverpool. Yes that really is my on a narrow boat in 1981!

We visited Worsley and came up Wigan flight, it was very different then.

in 2009 Lady Teal was being built and then in 2010 we had our first full season.

Nine years and still going strong, with no idea when we will finish. We even have guests still coming with us who came in that first season, it really is quite amazing.

So season nine well underway now, and it’s still fun.

Well it looks like it has aged us a bit, but I guess it has been the best part of 10 years.

The post Has it really been that long, still loving it not stopping yet! appeared first on Lady Teal.

The post Lovely Lunch Stop for Lady Teal appeared first on Lady Teal.

Our season is now well and truly underway. We had a dampish start , that’s good it means full reservoirs, and now we have absolutely glorious weather as we pass through the spectacular Yorkshire Dales.

We have been down into Leeds and that has meant a lot of staircase locks, in particular the iconic Bingley three and Five rises. We never tire of passing through these fabulous locks, with the help of the very knowledgeable CRT keepers. @CRTContactus please thank all your staff for the great work they do in making this 200 year old canal keep on working.

It’s always interesting getting out for the first time to see if that  particular paddle was fixed over the winter and what overgrowth has been cut back. So far pretty pleased with what has been done, but of course there is always that bit of annoying overgrowth that needs doing!

Here are a couple of pictures from last nights mooring.

The post What glorious weather appeared first on Lady Teal.

But that was all made up for with the 20 minutes watching a Barn Owl hunt in a field. How amazing, I have never watched one for so long. It swooped silently over the field, sorry too far away for pictures. I then moved on with the boat but the guests stayed to watch it land, presumably having caught something. This really is one of the magic things about this job, we get to see fabulous wildlife.

Then a bit further up the canal there were two mad March Hares on the tow path, once again too far and too quick to picture, but really lovely to see.

Certainly lots of water around in the canal, roll on tomorrows sunshine!

The post Showers, Mud, wildlife and a good time on Lady Teal appeared first on Lady Teal.