Your Canal Boat, a Community Interest Company whose mission is to activate underutilised canal side spaces, is organising a floating market with up to 8 boats to trade pop-up style, continuously, for two months across West London this Spring.

With CRT appproval of our final schedule pending, we anticipate space for five more traders beginning with our first market at Uxbridge 1 May.

Boats currently subscribed include 'Molly Anna', our main entertainment and broadcast centre, 'Shorewaters', serving delicious traditional Indian dishes and 'Winnimax', a state of the art recording studio offering demo recordings for performing artists.

With additional providers of food and services, we aim to create a festival-like atmosphere that generates new interest in overlooked locations, culminating in stakeholder engagement sessions that encourage residents to effectively “own” and manage them going forward.

If that sounds like your kind of “trouble”, organisers invite you to get on board.

Plans
The flotilla will rendezvous for the first week of May in Uxbridge before travelling to the Hanwell Hootie - UK´s biggest free music festival, where Molly Anna serves as the official ¨busking boat¨. The ‘’village’ then spends three weeks at two Brentford locations, before travelling back up the Hanwell Flight to the Hayes Festival where they will end two months of trading at Alperton.

What happens thereafter depends on public response and the collective decision of participants.

Jeet Bahal is one of the flotilla´s pioneers, a 70-year old marine engineer who has circumnavigated the globe 7 times, he passionately believes that a canal boat village is as appropriate for London as those he marvelled at in Thailand and Cambodia. Jeet brings his boat Shorewaters, his curry recipes, and deep connections with West London’s Sikh community to help achieve it as a reality.

But what should we call this experiment in perpetual canal boat festivity? A canal boat village that pops up, casts a magical spell and disappears again?
Jeet opined for the name “Brigadoon,” a nod to the Broadway play about a mythical Scottish Highland Village that materializes every 100 years. What better analogy for a floating ‘village’ that relocates, popping up from week to week along the canal?
Brigadoon suggests marvel, mystery and a fleeting presence. In Hollywood’s 1954 version, Gene Kelly is an American who stumbles into Brigadoon and falls in love.
- Does he stay with the woman he loves or should he return to his lived reality of a ‘real world’ in New York?

And will this canal boat village be similarly enchanting? Will people follow along to wherever it moves in accordance with continuous cruising requirements?

Woody Travis Walker believes they will. Woody, a classically trained actor, has sailed on tall ships and run music sessions on the Golden Hinde. He looks forward to hosting a podcast that promotes the project with music, theatre & interviews, or as he describes it, “the poetry of the waterways”.

With the help of the Punjabi Theatre Academy that poetry will likely include a South Asian accent. Recognised as the first thespians to bring the story of the Southall riots to the stage, the Punjabi Theatre Academy will utilise Brigadoon as a platform to solicit immigrant memories of the renovation of Heathrow Airport, from a wartime facility into London´s principal terminal.

Families are encouraged to bring their elders to be interviewed and photographed at public engagement sessions in Uxbridge, Hayes, Hanwell, Brentford, Southall and Alperton. Collected content will be transformed into a Bollywood style production for the following Year 2 village flotilla.

Sir Tony Robinson, England´s most beloved popular historian, has contributed a video encouraging people to get involved and bring the program into the heart of London.

To be a hit in the The Big Smoke, the village needs a coffee service and beverages, and services from massage to haircut to tattoo, are invited to consider joining.

Write admin@yourcanalBoat.com to learn more..

When we decided to move onto a narrow boat, I knew there were over 2000 miles of canals in the English canal system, but I hadn’t taken into consideration the amount of that distance that would be unavigable because of maintenance closures at any one time.

I guess I had visions of us just pootling around choosing where we fancied going next…how wrong I was!

In my ‘old life’, every day was mapped out with a sense of purpose, although I always felt I lived my life like a never ending ‘to do’ list; coming onto the boat was a way of retraining myself to behave differently and be less of a control freak.

I had no idea how challenging it would be to try to change the behavioural habits I’d had for decades, plus how to cope with the constant disruptions to our travelling plans.

We’d hoped to get onto the Leeds-Liverpool Canal last year at the end of the summer; we planned to leave the Peak Forest Canal and descend the Marple Flight of locks and head towards Manchester and onto Wigan.

The Wigan Flight of locks are the access point to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

Not only did the Marple Flight close months ago (and is still closed) but the Wigan Flight closed too; both flights have major structural issues, hence we’ve been kind of hanging around in the north waiting to head towards Skipton….eventually.

We’ve been to the Yorkshire Dales many times with the caravan in the past and always planned to come back on board NB Grace, but it’s taken a lot of patience on my part (Rob is much more laid back than me 😉) not to insist that we abandon the idea and head south.

Wigan was supposed to open last Friday, but CRT then announced it would be this Friday; apparently the flight opens tomorrow at 10am and we’re within a couple of hours of the bottom of the flight.

There are 21 huge double locks to wrestle with, then onwards through Blackburn, Burnley and various towns before heading for the hills.

I often think our lifestyle looks idyllic in so many ways, but it’s not without it’s challenges.

I know, more often than not, that the challenge is within me; can I embrace uncertainty to just go with the flow and accept what is, rather than resist what I don’t want or like?

To be absolutely honest, I’m still very much a work in progress, but being aware of what I struggle with means ‘if I can see it, I don’t always have to be it’ 🙃

By the time you read this it will be spring, with new temperature records set daily and I should be in shorts and t shirt but now I'm not. Indeed, I have worked outside since the age of 15 and this winter has been hardest so far for keeping warm, mainly because it has been so wet, and damp is biggest source of heat loss. Dawn treader (Dt) has been an awful lot warmer since I turned the clock back to paraffin lamps, it's been 5 degrees outside and 20 inside - that’s a respectable lift of 15!  Oddly enough, it’s got rid of the cluster flies and hundreds of spiders I used to suffer from! But it's still been cold sat in the cockpit etc., and this got me thinking...

My great grandfather to the power of 30,  Erik Wolfensohn the Warm ( Viking bloke) managed to sail the north sea as far as Iceland in an open boat in February. Despite what we think, they were no hardier than us; they didn’t have magical anti-freezing powers, so there must be something he knew that time and fashion have erased.

Clothing! Ever since I started sailing at 15, clothing for boaters has been driven by fashion (blame Jan's Boutique on Howard’s way). Today we all wonder around in manmade fibres with some special property – feature plus benefit equals sales with the labels sewn where they can be easily read, and each label raises our social status.  But I am sorry to say none of it has kept me warm or dry. You will have to forgive my sketchy research on this as very little is written down on just what great etc grandad wore, but it would appear to be the following. Linen under trousers – (cotton wasn’t around just yet!) felted woollen socks (easy to do  - just buy large ones and tumble dry them), linen shirt,  then heavy woollen trousers and woollen jumper or top with a tunic and heavy woollen cloak, fur boots and wool around the legs bit like a 1980s keep fit thing. Because wool has an amazing property: it can keep heat in when its wet! Of course add some waterproofing which sheep make naturally, and although you probably smelled beyond today's social acceptance, you could survive what ever the weather threw at you – in fact the more I read about what these people did with wool the more I wonder if that’s how we got our name!

I am writing this snug and warm in sheep skin boots, sheepskin waistcoat, heavy wool socks and a sheepskin hat and thick wool reefer jacket – all my branded expensive gear is now in a local charity shop, help yourselves it's useless!!!

Anyway, on with the show and DT's gas tank is out, and I’ve welded 6 inches to the top to accept the new bottles. I wasn’t going to take it out and did get a quote to weld in situ, but I thought it’s been in there twenty years so better refurbish the whole thing with several coats of rust convertor. Having got this far I have ordered a gas bubble. Slightly expensive and I am in the habit of turning the gas off when I don’t use it, but I think it’s a good safety feature.

I’ve added two carbon monoxide detectors mainly because I was using paraffin lamps and interestingly, they didn’t go off which is unsurprising seeing as they don’t when the gas cooker is on full tilt. I have removed the bubble pack from the windows. The more it can breathe now the better. Indeed a day recently with the widows wide open and a wind blowing through dried it out more than any heater or dehumidifier could ever achieve. Whilst I had no gas and couldn’t use the paloma water heater, I filled it full of kettle descaler – what a difference! I should have done that ages ago! All the gas knobs have had a light smear of gas tap grease ready for new bottles – though I have sort of got used to living on board quite happily and cheaply without gas – it is part of the boat and I now know how to use it sparingly, whereas before I relied on it especially the heater which really burnt it – about 2 kilos in 24hours.

It’s my safety certificate this year; I quite like this because I like working from repair manuals. I just go through everything they check and make sure it’s still working, attached etc. CRT and the inspectors are always a good source of info if you are unsure (my new gas locker being a prime example). I think there is too much bending of the rules once they have left and dubious pressure gas portable stoves and heaters creep back on board, because we forgot how our ancestors coped with the cold.

Now if you will excuse me, I am off to plunder Lindisfarne, there being precious little on the Kennet and Avon worth a Viking raid.

We have done a number of walks from Preston Brook to the Stoke area on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Our eventual plan one day is to walk the remainder of the canal from Stoke to Trent Lock/Derwent Lock. The Trent and Mersey Canal is 93 miles long with 76 locks and it connects the rivers Mersey, in the West, and Trent and Derwent, in the East. The canal was built in 1766, engineered by James Brindley and promoted by Josiah Wedgwood for its transportation of pottery in the Stoke area.

Trent and Mersey Canal has a number of interesting features including Anderton Boat Lift and Harecastle Tunnel. This article's focus is on Stone, a market town in Staffordshire, near Stoke and Stafford. The canal runs through the town and once upon a time it was famous for its beer brewing because of the quality of the water. The town had two main breweries, John Joule and Sons (brewed and exported from 1780 until 1974) and Montgomery and Company (brewed from 1889 until 1968) and the canal was used to transport and export the beer.

The Star Inn, a Canalside pub, named after the Star Lock, is an interesting pub to visit. The building is considered one of the oldest in the area and the pub has been licenced since 1819. The building in its time was used for stables and also in its time, a butcher shop and a slaughterhouse. The pub is recommended for its wonderful food, and there are a variety of eating areas as the building retains its original differing floor levels.

I painted two pictures, above, of the Canalside in Stone using gouache paint also as known as opaque watercolour. Using gouache brings out the colour and ambience the Canalside brings for both boaters and walkers.

A recent foray into the wilds of the city took us into the Manchester Museum where, hidden slightly at the back of room full of other deceased creatures in various states of undress, is a horse skull. There is a neon sign high above the glass case that says “Old Billy” but with the exhibit being just a few feet from the wall, the lights are often missed and people walk by, not connecting the skull with the painting or the slightly monosyllabic information board on the opposite wall.

There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the skull unless you are a horsey person, in which case you may well notice the remaining teeth are more than a little geriatric. This is because the owner of those teeth was 62 years old when he died in 1822, an age that has never been matched even with today's advances in veterinary science.

What’s this got to do with waterways, I hear you ask. Well Billy belonged to the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company.

Our story begins in 1762, at Wilgrave Farm in Warrington. The farm sat in a loop of the River Mersey and the horses grazed in fields that overlooked the boats manfully trying to navigate up the river. The Mersey and Irwell Navigation at that time was undergoing a bit of a crisis, having been happily running something of a transport monopoly until Francis Egerton popped up with his brass-balls and started building the Bridgewater canal, spooking the company into finally addressing some of the serious navigational issues.

The navigation was populated by broad-beamed, flat bottomed barges that could carry about 35 tonnes if there was enough water, but in the summer especially, there was a distinct lack of water and their masters would be forced to reduce the cargo to about 15. Even then, boats could find themselves getting stuck on the shallows and having to be flushed off by dint of the closest lock being opened and everyone crossing their fingers.

These boats were broad, bluff vessels with a single mast and sail that allowed them to deal with the estuary, and when they couldn’t use their sail they were initially pulled by gangs of men. There was a shift in this, however, and when Billy was foaled in 1760 it was mentioned in the Act of Parliament for the Bridgewater canal that horses were a motive power.

There is some room for debate as to whether Billy was born at Wilgrave farm or whether he’d been bought as a youngster with the intention of breaking him in, but it is most probable that Billy was foaled at Wilgrave farm itself. He may well have been intended as a carriage horse; the contemporary accounts noted he had a look about him of the Arabian horse and as his ears were cropped - a revolting fashion for the time and an act you’d typically carry out on a horse before it was big enough to, quite rightly, kick your face in when you took a knife to his ears.

Billy was a powerful, stocky youngster standing at around 14.2 hands high. He was about 2 years old in 1762 when he was handed to teenage horseman Henry Harrison, who began the process of training him “for the plough.”

Perhaps because of the training methods of the time (or perhaps as a response to having his ears cropped, his tail docked and quite probably also getting his gonads done for good measure in an age with no anaesthetic) Billy grew up with a vicious streak and a tendency to bite and kick. This is not an ideal trait for a plough horse and quite possibly why he was quickly sold on, probably straight to the Mersey & Irwell Company.

Despite what a quick Google search might tell you, a contemporary account written in the horse’s old age tells us that Billy spent the next 30 years as a gin horse before going on to pull boats. This isn’t surprising - a gin horse would be hitched to a draw bar that rotated round a vertical axle, creating motive power for machines, and smaller, compact horses were preferable simply because they would fit to the gin better. The Mersey & Irwell company themselves would have had gins everywhere for anything from powering winches to pumps. There were gin powered corn mills and saw mills, and portable gins that could be loaded into a cart and dragged off to where it was needed, perhaps meaning that Billy might have been coming out with a team to help free off loaded boats caught on shallows.

According to the account, Billy began pulling boats quite late in his career. We can speculate that this could have been something to do with his temper, which didn’t mellow until he reached advanced old age, and pulling a boat would have kept the driver at a fairly safe distance from lashing feet, nor would anyone have looked twice at a boathorse being thrashed.

At some point, someone in the company realised exactly how long Billy had been on their books for and it dawned on them that they might actually have something a bit special on their hands. In 1819 Billy was pensioned off with none other than Henry Harrison once more assigned to his care, and he moved the Latchford stables of William Earle, one of the directors of the company, finally allowed to mooch about on his own terms.

In the summer warmth, Billy trotted and galloped stiffly with youngsters more than 60 years his junior and in the winter he stayed in his stable, rugged and fed soft linseed mash. His attitude, although mellowed by the years, did not improve all that much and legend says that he was supposed to come out for the coronation parade in Manchester in 1821, but refused point blank to leave the comfort of his stable.

Perhaps realising that time was running out for the curmudgeonly old horse, William Earle commissioned the famous sporting artist Charles Towne to come out for him. Towne, in the company of a vet named Lucas and a man named Johnson who appears to have been a reporter of some kind, met the horse on the 11th July 1822 and everyone was suitably impressed by the old stalwart.

The painting shows a gaunt animal with a thoughtful face. The lack of ears makes him look worried, and although his hips jut through his skin, you can still see the powerful build that made him such a success in his career.

Billy died that winter, either on the 27th November or the 11th December, quite possibly finally succumbing to malnutrition as his worn teeth would have made it difficult for him to take much good from hay and it was long before the veteran feeds of today.

Not unexpectedly perhaps for the time, he was taxidermied, although for some reason it took 2 years before someone decided to do something with the remains and gave them to the new Manchester Society of Natural History in 1824.

For some reason, Billy was displayed in the nude, with his skeleton out on display while his skin was “under the stairs” in a box.

Billy’s remains were moved into the newly built Manchester Museum around 1888, but exactly what of the remains made the move is questionable. Certainly his skull made it, and became an exhibit, but the rest of his skeleton appears to have gone missing, along with most of his skin. I say “most” because bizarrely the skin of his head was restuffed and ended up travelling 160 miles south to Bedford, where it apparently still remains today.

Despite his mortal remains having a slightly ignominious fate, he is still an important part of Warrington’s heritage life, with the local museum holding a special event on the 200th anniversary of his death and his story being immortalised in a charming illustrated children’s book last year.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change¹

Over the Autumn we made our way along the Rochdale Canal from Manchester to Sowerby Bridge. At various places along the canal, we were warned away from stopping, primarily by other boaters, but also by CRT volunteers and once a local security person.

I have read of real attacks on boats and boaters and do not doubt that they happen, but now I wonder how much my personal perception of possible danger was based on reality, or how much it was fed and encouraged by rumour and anxiety. All the negative warnings we were given early on our journey certainly coloured my experience of the south end of the Rochdale but we didn’t actually experience any real trouble. Although the Manchester end of the canal comes across as unloved at times, there are many people who volunteer to keep this canal beautiful.

When we moor, we always try to find a place with other boaters, where the towpath is well used by dog-walkers, runners and others, or is so remote that no one is likely to bother us. The only real nuisance we have ever experienced was on the Macclesfield canal when we had our ropes partially untied by a youth, probably as part of a dare. Ironically, at that time we were moored with others on visitor moorings. It would seem that you can’t plan for everything!

Once on the Rochdale, when waiting for a lock to fill, I stood talking to a passerby. He was bemoaning the state of the canal so I asked him what he would do to change it. How would he engage locals to care for and enjoy their local stretch of canal? Sadly, we didn’t come up with any instant answers during our chat.

In August 2022, the results of a study into the benefits gained from visiting canals and rivers were published. It found ‘positive associations between visits to canals and rivers and mental wellbeing, as well as a positive experience for feelings of safety and social inclusion relative to all other types of environments.’²

It is easy to see this when you experience the most beautiful areas of the canal network, but is it possible to create the same positive association when stretches of the canal have become no-go areas?

How can those areas be reclaimed as places for everyone to enjoy and benefit from? CRT, who supported the above study, believe that it is possible. Their website provides information on the possible economic, environmental and social well-being benefits of waterways.³  Is it something we, as boaters, can play a part in, along with other local stakeholders? Can we see canals and canal communities as part of a real and sustainable answer to wider social issues? It’s an interesting conversation to have.

1. Wayne Dyer, author and speaker.

2. Bergou N et al (2022) The mental health benefits of visiting canals and rivers: An ecological momentary assessment study. PLOS ONE. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0271306

3. Canal & River Trust (2020) The values and benefits of waterways. Available at: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/specialist-teams/planning-and-design/planning-policy/the-values-and-benefits-of-waterways

What a wintery start to December we have had, with very seasonal frosts, snow flurries, beautiful skies and those wet and murky mornings when we patiently wait for daylight!

Our winter solstice isn’t far away, marking the shortest day which is apparently almost nine hours shorter than the longest day of the year.

Yule is the 12-day festival centred around the solstice giving us our familiar traditions such as the Christmas tree, the Yule log and Christmas wreath.

Holly was a part of early English folklore.

The sharp pointed leaves were thought to symbolise the crown of thorns and the red berries symbolising the drops of Christ’s blood.

A holly wreath on the door at Christmas began during the seventeenth century and signified a home that celebrated the birth of Christ.

I have a hand tied swag of holly and ivy as a simple decoration to hang in the front of the boat, although I have made wreaths for other people using twisted willow branches as the frame.

I just love those festive ingredient combinations. Pears, oranges, cranberries and pomegranates along with the soft cheeses like brie and stilton with walnuts and hazelnuts. Rosemary, sage and bay really come into their own at this time of year too with tray roasted veggies, homemade stuffing and roasts. Then there are all those chutneys and pickles made in the Autumn to enjoy with an array of cheeses and meats.

Grazing boards and nibbles are one of our favourite ways to pass a winter evening on in front of a warm fire. I have shared some of my favourites.

Pear, blue cheese and walnut are a perfect combination. Or Brie, black grape and celery on cocktail sticks.

Dried apricots individually topped with soft blue cheese spread and chopped almond pieces, fiddly to make but are tasty little mouthfuls.

Warm savoury little sausages served with a dip made from 4 tbsp crème fraiche or natural yogurt, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and 1 tsp sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Whip up some cream cheese with a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper, spread over toasted bread strips and top with pieces of smoked salmon.

A pack of shop bought puff pastry can go a long way when making little savouries. The easiest way is to roll out the pastry onto a baking sheet, score an inch in round the edges to form a crust and brush the edges with beaten egg, spread a thin layer of cranberry sauce from a jar and dot with pieces of brie and broken pieces of walnut, season with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes, then cut into bite sized pieces. Alternatively cut the pasty into squares and place into a tart tin before filling. Or brush the entire base with beaten egg, dot with finely sliced fried mushrooms or leeks and small pieces of stilton before baking. You can make cheese straws using a sheet of puff pastry cut into strips, very lightly brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with cheddar, or parmesan and a fine scattering of paprika, twist each strip and transfer to a lined tray, top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds if you have them and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until crispy and golden.

QUICK AND EASY SALMON EN CROUTE

• 1 pack of puff pastry
• 2 large salmon fillets
• 1 pack Boursin soft herbed cheese
• 1 beaten egg to glaze

Line a large baking tray with baking paper and unroll half a packet of puff pastry over the paper. Peel the skin off the salmon if possible then lay the first fillet skin side down over the middle of the pastry, spread a generous amount of Boursin (or similar) herbed soft cheese over the fish. Place the second fillet on top and gently lay the other piece of puff pastry over the top. Trim round the edges to leave a 1” border and press down the edges.

Lightly mark a diamond pattern over the top of the pastry taking care not to cut through and make a slit in middle to let the steam out. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden.

ROAST GOOSE AND STUFFING

We are having goose this year and after trawling various recipes I think I have come up with my take on a festive roast goose, less is more in terms of extra ingredients. Make sure any extra pieces of fat are taken out of the cavity and place half of an onion and half a small orange along with some herbs inside the bird before cooking. The trick is to sit it on a rack, breast side down over the roasting tin and prick the skin all over to allow those fats to drip out, if you don’t have a roasting rack use a cooling wire or the grill rack over the roasting tray. Add Malden salt flakes and fresh ground black pepper over the skin and cover with foil. Remove the foil for the last half hour of cooking, gently flip the goose over to breast side up to allow the skin to crisp up and brown.

The general cooking rule is 15 minutes per 450g/1lb at about 180 fan, plus an extra 15 minutes. Check during cooking as plenty of fat will drip out and it may need draining off. Save it for those roasties!

Stick a skewer into the meatiest part of the leg, when the juices are clear you’ll know the bird is cooked.

No basting required as it’s quite fatty, however do keep checking up during cooking and drain the excess fat off for the roasties. Remember to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving and bring to room temperature before placing in the oven.

SHALLOT, SAGE, HAZELNUT AND ORANGE STUFFING. Roll into balls or stuff inside the bird.

• 350g shallots
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp butter
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 85g roughly chopped, roasted hazelnuts (without skins preferable)
• 150g white breadcrumbs
• 1 egg beaten
• Salt and pepper

Fry the shallots in the butter until golden brown, add the sugar and orange juice. Simmer until the liquid has almost evaporated. Pour some boiling water over the sage and leave for 1 minute, then drain and squeeze dry. Add to the shallot pan with all the other ingredients.

Stuff inside the bird or roll into balls to cook in the oven,

DELICIOUS CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI CHEESE WITH STILTON AND CHUNKY BREADCRUMBS

Cook the cauliflower and broccoli in salted water until just tender, strain and reserve.

Meanwhile make the sauce by melting 30g butter in a saucepan, stir in 30g plain flour and cook for one minute continuing to stir well, then take off the heat and beat in 600ml (1 pint) milk, a little at a time, returning to the heat to simmer to thicken, add a pinch of ground nutmeg and salt and pepper, add a dash of white wine or cider vinegar if you have it.

Once the sauce has thickened add a little grated cheddar. Place the cooked and strained cauliflower and broccoli in a buttered ovenproof dish and pour the sauce over to cover. Sprinkle the top with torn pieces of wholemeal bread and crumbled stilton. Up to this stage can be prepared ahead. Reheat in the oven until the topping is crunchy and the cheese sauce is bubbling underneath.

VARIOUS WAYS WITH MASH

• Fry small pieces of chopped bacon in a little butter and add to the mash.
• Add a little apple sauce to the mash if serving with pork.
• Crispy topped mash. Boil the potatoes in their skins. Once cooked remove the skins and spread onto a buttered baking tray, crisp up in the oven or over the stove while you mash the potatoes. Chop the crispy skins and spread over the top of the mash.
• Roast a whole garlic wrapped in foil and butter in the oven for about 15 minutes until soft and caramelised. Squeeze the bulbs out of the skin when cooked and combine with the mash and butter.
• Add celeriac to the potato pan and mash with a pinch of nutmeg and dash of milk and butter.
• Fry sage leaves and chop finely before adding to the mash, rosemary works well the same way.
• Add finely chopped fried shallots and a little cream.

MULLED WINE Is one way to warm up and is perfect simmered over the log burner (or next to it if the fire is roaring). My homemade mulled wine uses a bottle of dry red wine, a generous dash (about ¼ cup) of brandy and a few aromatic extras such as a cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 2 star anise and a peeled sliced orange, sweeten to taste with 2 to 4 tbsp sugar or honey. It will fill your boat with those Christmassy aromas!
If there’s any left, pour it over your chopped red cabbage and let it simmer away over the stove.

SPICED MULLED CIDER uses 1 litre of good vintage cider gently simmered with 2 cloves, 1 stick cinnamon, small 2cm piece sliced ginger, 2 mini oranges thinly sliced, 1 tbsp sugar, 100ml rum (golden or spiced) and 100 ml rum.

HOME MADE HOT CHOCOLATE If it’s too early for alcohol can be as indulgent as you like, my version uses one third cream to milk and whole chunks of melted chocolate. Don’t count the calories for this one!
Whisk together in a pan over low heat 1 ½ cups milk with ½ cup double cream, few drops vanilla essence and 2 tsp icing sugar, keep on low heat and don’t allow to boil, remove from heat and add 230g dark chocolate bar (at least 70% coco solids) broken into small pieces, stir until melted. Top with extra whipped or squirty cream and marshmallows (optional) if you have them.

Staying with the boozy theme, another festive favourite is poached pears in port. They can be done in advance and make a lovely desert after meal or a cheese board. These are made using cinnamon, but you can swap this for cardamon or star anise. It uses a lot of port, but the leftover syrup can be re used over dried fruit or thinned down with water for a second batch.

POACHED PEARS IN PORT

• 4 large or 6 small pears
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 280g sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 600 ml (1 Pint) port

Peel, half and core the pears, squeeze the lemon juice over and rub into the flesh. Put the other ingredients into a saucepan, gently place the pears into the pan and very slowly bring to a simmer. Add a little hot water to ensure the pears are covered or slice them if the are too big. Cover with grease proof paper and the pan lid and very slowly poach for 30 to 40 minutes, carefully turning in the liquid a couple of times during poaching. They will become slightly translucent and take on the colour of the port. Carefully lift out and place in a dish. Boil the remaining liquid to reduce down to a syrup and pour over the pears. Serve with a dollop of clotted cream, crème fraiche or ice cream.

Sweet things at Christmas can be as convenient and ready bought or homemade as you like. Homemade truffles and peppermint creams remind me of my childhood when we used to make these at home.

CHRISTMAS SHORTBREAD Makes a lovely alternative to mince pies and is quick and easy to make.

• 325g plain flour
• 225g butter
• 110g caster sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 jar (340g) mincemeat, warmed next to the fire to loosen up
• Icing sugar to finish

Line a small roasting tin, cake tin or similar. Measurements aren’t too important as the thickness of the shortbread can vary.

Mix the flour, sugar, salt and butter with the end of your fingertips until resembles sand, the finer the better. Don’t bring the mixture together. Tip half into the tin and press down firmly with your hand or the bottom of a glass. Spread the warm mincemeat over the mixture and then tip the rest of the shortbread mixture over the top, spread well and press down to flatten. Cook in a moderate oven for 25 mins until golden. Allow to cool completely before turning out cutting into squares. Dust with a little icing sugar to finish.

FLOUR FREE CARROT ALMOND AND COCONUT CAKE

• 3 eggs
• 120g caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 200g ground almonds
• 100g dessicateds coconut
• 2 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
• 100 ml light olive oil
• 200g grated carrots
• 50g chopped pumpkin seeds
• Icing sugar to finish

Preheat the oven to 160 fan and line a round or square cake tin with greaseproof round the sides and on the bottom.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together until light and fluffy, add the ground almonds, coconut and cinnamon and stir well. Then add the olive oil, carrot and pumpkin seeds and stir well to combine. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for about an hour, check after 40 minutes. Turn round in the oven if need to bake evenly. Remove when cooked and allow to cool then finish with a dusting of icing sugar.

Hopefully we will all have a warm, safe and cheerful festive season and a happy and healthy new year with many memorable boating adventures ahead.

There are many mysteries that occur throughout the world, which are mostly unresolved, some are too terrifying to contemplate, others are hard to believe, and the rest, well make up your own minds after reading the stories below.

Depending on how you view a mystery is how you react to a story, whether you believe in ghosts or sprits, alien existence, creatures from other dimensions or spontaneous combustion, each story has one thing in common, they are incredible to read and hard to believe if true.

Reading through the details of these stories, questions what we know or indeed think we know and understand, if at all, sceptics among you will no doubt refuse to believe or disregard the details that they hold, but what if they are true, what if it happened to you, or someone you were close to?

The following stories have been thoroughly researched by some of the Worlds top scientists who have failed to come up with any plausible answers or explanations as to why they happened.

We as human beings like to know about our surroundings and what happens that affect`s our day to day existence, one thing that we are not good at, is the not knowing or failing to find an answer that makes us feel uncomfortable.

Because we at Bearingtech are in a problem solving industry, where mysteries happen on a daily basis, we thought that we would try something different.

The following stories are all true, or are they, you decide?

Spiritual / Paranormal

Soul Extraction:

Most people when asked about the human soul, would either not comment or believe that the soul leaves the body at the point of death and either soars to the heavens or drops down to the depths of hell, all a bit angels and demons, but for years scientists have argued the case for this occurrence to actually happen. But in 1901 Dr Duncan MacDougall tried to prove that the human soul does exist.

He set about experimenting with terminally ill patients, who had given him their permission to carry out the procedure once they had died, he tested 6 patients who all experienced weight loss at the time of their deaths, with the average weight loss being 21 grams per person.
When researching details for one of his novels, the Lost Symbol, American author Dan Brown discovered the latest experiments involving state of the art technology, discovered some outstanding facts and results, according to one of the researchers, a scientist had arranged like Dr MacDougall, to run a test on an elderly terminally ill patient, they both agreed that when the time was right and the man was close to death, he would be placed in a sealed glass cabinet, that was fitted with the latest technical weighing scales that were capable of detecting the weight of a human hair.

Eventually the time came and the patient as agreed was placed in the cabinet and weighed for the first time to prove that the scales were as accurate as described, the weight of the patient was logged, they then removed a single hair from the patient, and sure enough the scales changed.

Once this had been logged and verified, the lid of the cabinet was closed for the last time.
A few hours later, the time had come and the patient was close to death, with every scientist looking on at the scales the man finally passed away, again the weight was logged, 20 seconds later the scales changed again to a lower weight, which was considerably more than a human hair.

On inspection, everyone agreed that this second reading was indeed the extraction of the human soul leaving the body.

Smurls Family Hauntings:

How many people look to buy a property that needs repairing and fixing up as their first property to start climbing the property ladder, probably most? Many do this on a regular basis without any fuss, apart from the normal run of the mill building repairs like decorating, plumbing, gardening and general maintenance work.

When Janet and Jack Smurl thought that they had found such a house, they were excited at the prospect of making a family home for years to come, somewhere to raise their family in safety.
The house they found was situated in Chase Street, West Pittson in Pennsylvania, and came in the category of being a “fixer upper”, the property needed lots of work to make it a family home as some of the décor had not ben touched in years, little did they know at the time the reason why, but they were about to find out the horror that this house was going to put them through.

At the beginning of 1974, the strange noises started to happen, disturbing the peace and tranquility that the house had so far offered, especially in the evenings and during the early hours of the morning, when things started to heat up. Odd things started to happen on a regular basis, televisions would turn themselves on in the middle of the night and start blaring out, taps would start to flow without any reason and water pipes began banging and vibrating.
The renovated work that had been carried out was continually destroyed as if to point out that the work should not be done in the first place. The final straw came when the family were sitting together in the lounge watching the television, when their dog was picked up as if floating in the air and was slammed against a wall.

Something had to be done, was the house haunted? Eventually after some serious soul searching, the Smurls called for professional help and called in Parapsychologists Ed and Lorraine Warren who were experts in this particular field and renowned in hauntings.

After their extensive investigation the Warrens came to the conclusion that the house was one of the worst cases of hauntings that they had ever witnessed, they discovered that there were many evil spirits connected to the property, one an old woman, another a violent girl and a man who had died in the house with one demon in total control of the others.

But the most frightening aspect of the haunting was the discovery of a passageway between two dimensions that sat smack bang in the middle of the house, which could be the reason for the evil that exists within the walls of the house.

On hearing this, the terrified couple tried everything that they could to rid the house of the spirits that were beginning to control the property, everything from exorcisms to antagonising whoever was carrying out these horrific deeds, but nothing worked. \

Over the next 13 years, the Smurls were tormented beyond belief by the spirits, that seemed hell bent on either ruining or ending their lives, on one occasion Janet was molested in her sleep and Jack was sexually assaulted whilst watching television.

The family was now being subjected to random attacks, which began to get more violent and frightening with each incident, all the members of the family had been attacked, with a near fatal accident happening to one of their daughters, who was narrowly missed by a large ceiling fan that fell just inches from her, causing the family great distress.

Everybody who stayed in the house was attacked, by either being punched, slapped or bitten, with some instances included being thrown out of bed or pushed down the stairs.

After countless incidents, the final terrifying event persuaded the Smurls to finally leave the property, when an apparition appeared and confronted two of the family members, which absolutely terrified them beyond belief.

The house was now under full possession with incidents and accounts occurring on a daily if hourly basis, the Warrens advised the Smurls to leave as soon as possible for the safety of their children.

In 1987, the Smurl family had had enough of the attacks and for the sake of their physical and mental health, decided to leave the house for good never to return.

Can you imagine your own home or house becoming unlivable and frightening in this way?
Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary, a place where you can relax and raise your family and live in harmony without the horrendous events that the Smurls endured for years.
Nobody knows if the house at Chase Street was ever occupied again, and if so did the new owners undertake the same treatment as the previous occupants, lets hope not.

Tristar Flight 401

Like Naval stories from the past, aviation has also unexplained mysteries that have fascinated people over the years. One case though that stands out as really strange, is the story of Flight 401, which was owned by the American airline company called Eastern Airlines.

On December 29th 1972,  Eastern airlines flight 401 was in a descent flight mode heading towards Miami. On board were 163 passengers and 13 crew members, that were all in good spirits and looking forward to spending the New Year in sunny Florida.

As the pilots began to go through their descent and landing procedure, first officer Albert Stockstill was instructed to lower the landing gear. Before the order was carried out, Captain Bob Loft noticed that not all the wheel indicator bulbs had turned green, indicating that there could be a fault in the landing gear. Believing that the bulb was faulty, Loft told Stockstill to remove it, whilst telling flight engineer Donald Repo to check the mechanism in the avionics bay, which was always referred to as the “hell hole” of the plane.

Whilst the Pilots were attending to the landing gear problem, they failed to notice that the autopilot had disengaged and they were now heading towards the Florida Everglades. Moments later, travelling at over 230 miles an hour, the aircraft smashed into the alligator filled swamps.

Many of the passengers were killed outright, first officer Stockstill died upon impact, but both Loft and Repo survived the initial crash, only for Repo to die later in hospital. Loft died at the scene after rescue workers took too long to find the stricken aircraft wreckage.

Because the expense of building aircraft was substantial, Eastern Airlines decided to use some of the salvaged undamaged parts of the aircraft for future plane construction. After a few months had passed by, the parts were distributed to other aircraft across the airline; one such plane was destined to fly from New York to Miami in 1973.

Travelling that morning was one of the airline's Vice Presidents, who as a VIP guest was allowed to board the flight before paying passengers took their seats. As he made his way towards the first class seating area, he noticed an airline Captain in full uniform, standing outside the cockpit door, and decided to go over and talk to him.

After several minutes of conversation, the Captain disappeared in front of his face. Terrified, the Vice President rushed off the plane, saying that it was a bad omen and insisted that the plane be thoroughly searched before taking off; nothing was found.

Later that year, the same plane was sitting on the runway at JFK Airport. When the boarding crew were on board the flight making last minute checks, they saw the Captain already on board. When they approached him, nothing was out of the ordinary; in fact they spoke to him for several minutes before, like previously, he vanished right in front of them. Visibly shaken, the crew were in no state to fly, and the flight was cancelled.

Another incident happened a few months later, when flight engineers who would normally carry out routine checks before flights, noticed that an officer was sitting in the pilot's seat. They recognised straight away that the pilot was no other than Don Repo. On approaching him they heard him say quite clearly, “ You don’t need to worry about the pre flight, I`ve already done it” , before disappearing in full view of them.

Some weeks after, another Captain was checking the instrument panels before a flight from Miami to Atlanta. He looked up and found the face of Repo staring back at him. The Captain claimed that the face spoke to him and said, “There will never be another crash on these planes, we will not let it happen again”.

Again another incident occurred during a flight from Atlanta to Miami. The flight deck crew heard a loud knocking from the “hell hole”. By now rumours had spread throughout the airline company, telling of ghostly stories and incidents, which no member of staff wanted to encounter. But the knocking became louder, so two members of the staff were ordered to investigate the noise. They made their way to the landing gear bay. Once there, they opened the hatch and were horrified to be confronted by Don Repo staring back at them.

Other incidents continued to plague the airline with other members of the flight engineers, flight crews and passengers all witnessing events that could not be explained. One passenger took her seat, while next to her, so she thought, was a member of the flying crew who was sitting in the window seat in full uniform. She noticed that he looked quite ill and had a very drained look on his face, so she asked if he felt okay, but received no reply. On this, she summoned the stewardess over. The stewardess who leant across and tried to place her hand on the man's arm and asked if everything was okay. But at that very moment the man disappeared in front of them both, turning them both hysterical and running for the plane's exit as it started to descend. Once the pair had calmed down, they were both asked to explain what had happen, both told exactly the same story word for word. They were also shown pictures of Don Repo and Bob Loft. Both identified the man in the seat as Repo.

So far the rumours had been kept secret, just being discussed amongst the airline staff. Nobody wanted the passengers thinking that dead pilots and flying crews were haunting the airline. The airline actually threatened all members of staff with dismissals if they were caught spreading horror stories of ghosts appearing on board flights.

The question that needs to be asked about all of these incidents is nothing sinister happened, nobody was hurt or worse still killed. Yes there were people petrified and scared half to death, but remained safe. So did the pilots keep their promise as to not letting another crash happen? In fact they kept their word and looked after the passengers on board, unlike the apparitions in the Smurl's haunting.

There's a fly inside my boat
It's driving me to distraction
I've turned into a woman possessed
Hell bent on its extraction

I've politely asked it to go
Teased it up the window frame
But when it reaches the top
It just flies back in again

I've shown it a rolled magazine
I eshew the daily news papers
I've threatened it with Raid
But I don't really like the vapours

I've gone at it with a carving knife
Shown my best karate chops
Hovered above with the tissue box,
Slammed slippers and flip flops

I've enticed it towards a web
But the spider is asleep
I'll have to evict him as well
Not deserving of his upkeep

I'm not sure what the attraction is
Why it's decided to come indoors ?
I hear flies like carbon dioxide
And human salty pores

They are also attracted to bins
And surfaces with crumbs

And the sweet smell of ripe fruit
And rotting vegetables

I keep my boat clear of these
And have all the home remedies
With herbs hung in my openings
Spraying all bare extremities

I've tried zappers, candles and screens
And still it won't clear off
Goodness now it's got a friend
A giant hawkwinged moth!

With a spider that's gone into hiding
A buzzing drone in my ear
Now a flappy lepidoptera
Just 'Get me out of here'