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Argy Bargey is a new board game where you compete to create your own canal empire.

Each player must complete routes between towns and cities, competing against each other. Using tiles, you'll want your waterway to take the fastest possible route across the board.

Just like real canals, you'll need to use locks and tunnels to tackle hills. Junctions will be needed to connect other canals and create an efficient network.

With an approximate playing time of 45 minutes, 2 to 6 people can gather to do battle - canal style! Can you become the greatest canal tycoon of the 21st century?

I've been asked several times what made me decide to create a canal themed board game and the process of manufacturing it, so thanks to CanalsOnline I'm going to document it here. My name is Henry and I'm not a professional game designer, I'm a railway worker who decided to give it a go.

I’d already been asked once to do the dishes and as the Southampton match was coming to an end on the telly, another excuse was urgently required. Scrambling around the living room, I came across a pen and paper. It was obvious, the only logical decision was to create a board game.

In reality I had been playing around with an idea for a railway themed tile game for a while. Square tiles with railway track on them would be placed direct on to the table top with the idea being that various special industry tiles would be connected for the players to score points. (Wheat to a flour mill, flour to a bakery, that sort of thing). There was only one problem…It didn’t work. Dejected, I succumbed to the inevitable, and the dishwasher was loaded.

Time passed and Covid struck. My brother Tim, and his girlfriend Sam were forced to return to the UK from China earlier than expected. Their original plan to buy a property outright in the UK quickly faltered having accumulated less funds than anticipated. They finally settled on the idea of living on a narrowboat, perfectly combining their love of travel and their willingness to own their own home. On a roll, Tim and Sam quickly established their own YouTube channel ‘Chugging Along’, documenting life aboard their narrowboat Mary L. My wife Abbie and I enjoyed days out cruising the network, and as Chugging Along’s following grew, my mind reverted back to board games. However, railways were out and canals were in.

A re-think was needed, my previous attempt suffered from over complication and I was also aware of my lack of any experience in designing a game. With this in mind the new design needed to be simple, and would require testing from multiple trusted friends and family. Like Newton with his apple, I had a break-through moment too (yeah alright, I’m overplaying the importance a bit), this came in the form of a geographical baseboard. And yes, I know, a baseboard for a board game isn’t particularly revolutionary, however it was this simple change that provided the necessary structure for the game to work. The mechanics of the game came together really quickly thereafter, the basic principle being that two cities must be connected, and the shorter the route, the more points that will be scored. This simple premise gives players the impetus to both make their routes shorter and to make their opponents routes longer, adding an extra element of tactical fun in the form of sabotage. With that, all the ingredients were now in place for a nice and friendly family argument and with thanks to Sam's artwork a cardboard prototype was knocked up.

Test, test, test. Titivate and then yet more testing. This was my wife and I’s life for the next few months, taking the opportunity to play as often as we could, particularly with Tim and Sam, but also with our parents, friends, work colleagues and neighbours. We felt it was important to play with as broad a spectrum of people as possible, to check our rules were clear and most importantly that the game was enjoyable. We're so grateful to everyone who helped at this stage and finally, when we were all happy, it was time to take it to the next stage. This involved finding an artist/designer and a supplier. It quickly became apparent that although we’d have loved to of used a British company, costs would create a product that would be too much for us to reasonably charge and so we settled for a company in China to handle everything.

Tim was to handle our communication with our Chinese associates, he'd obviously lived there for a time and while he wasn't fluent in the local lingo, he had an understanding of their working practices. This was to prove a lot longer than we first appreciated and took the best part of a year, toing and froing with our designer. During this time we set about finding a name, an impromptu focus group was set up at the end of one of my brothers famous (in our family anyway) online quiz events. 'Canal Network', 'Waterway to have fun' and 'Savvy Navvies' were all thrown out, although the latter has been deemed good enough to be set aside for a potential follow up game. Eventually we settled on the fun and punchy 'Argy Bargey' and when the design was complete we had a sample sent out, it was beginning to get exciting.

That initial sample delivery from China was probably the most exciting part of the whole project, over a year's worth of work in a single parcel. With the anticipation levels through the roof we were not let down, any fears of quality issues were instantly quashed and we were delighted with what we saw. A couple of minor alterations were all that was required, another hill here a typo there and we could look towards printing, CE testing and shipping.

After checking, momentarily stumbling into the hedge trimmer and then rechecking, the internal dimensions of my garage were attained and allowed for an order of a 1000 units to be placed. It was really happening. Random samples were sent to be tested for various nasties, and the all clear meant we were good to go. Pat, my old school friend and under 11's strike partner, set us up with a shipper he uses for his online rubber duck business. This was particularly handy because it meant we knew we wouldn't get fleeced and the shipper would deal with any paperwork at Felixstowe. They arrived safe and sound in November 2021, thanks for the recommendation Pat.

The whole dynamic of the business suddenly changed, we were no longer manufacturing a game, we were marketing one. Tim and Sam created a YouTube video advertisement on their channel and it was up to Abbie to dispatch the orders that were flooding in on our website. Secondary advertising came in the form of posting on relevant Facebook groups and Tim, Sam and myself have done various interviews with the inland waterway press. Looking forward we have plenty of other marketing opportunities, in particular we are all looking forward to attending some of the boat shows later this year. Crick and the Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice have already been booked up for a bit of wheeler dealering and we're also hoping to get Argy Bargey into a Chandlery near you. We're a friendly bunch, so don't hesitate to say hello if you bump into us.

Anyway, it's been a great adventure for all of us so far and if you're thinking of starting your own business we'd say go for it. Although it turned out to be quite a lot of effort, just to put off doing the dishes. It's hard work being lazy you know!

Argy Bargey is available online 

Birmingham & Midland Marine Services Ltd offer a wide portfolio of services to the Civil Engineering, Rail, Utilities, Environmental, and Ecology sectors, working in an open water environment.

• Occupational Water Safety & Rescue Training
• Procurement, Project & Safety Management
• Commercial, Support, Safety & Rescue Vessel Services
• Boat Coxswain & Crew Training – Workboat, Powerboat & Safety /Rescue boat

Companies and organisations working on, beside or above open water are faced with a multitude of logistical complications; in fact, a ‘minefield’; ranging from obtaining workboats, floating welfare vessels, pontoons, safety boats, licences, permissions, marine risk assessments, obtaining lifejackets and rescue equipment, plus sourcing the appropriate training specific to the environment in which they will be operating.

Further complications can include providing emergency first aid support at these often-inhospitable waterside locations, seldom easily accessible by ambulance

Training requirements can be confusing for Human Resources and Health & Safety Managers: The HSE, DEFRA and the CDM Regulations 2015 all have a requirement for training and the levels of training required also change depending upon the location of the watercourse, the specific environment and the expected level of water contact those personnel are faced with.

Potentially having to contract a specialist safety team to cover the water margins is a further complication; to what level should the rescue teams be trained? with what equipment, licences, and insurances?

Does this sound like a stressful day at the office?

In steps Birmingham & Midland Marine Services Ltd.

Headed by Rich Gray, Maritime & Coastguard Agency Boat Master, ‘Water’ Rescue Instructor and Rescue Boat Operator with 23 years’ experience in the industry; Birmingham & Midland Marine Services was established in 2013 and expanded as a Limited company in 2020 in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic.

As a small yet niche business servicing the civil engineering, rail, utilities, environmental & ecology sectors, supporting & training the ‘Search & Rescue’ sector, clients are assured of a one-stop-shop approach to having the project supported from the initial tendering process to completion.

Registered with Achilles on the National Procurement Framework, the Commercial Boat Operators Association, the Inland Waterways Association and British Marine, approved trainers to the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency, the companies’ credentials are assured.

Current contracts include Marine Support of a major National Infrastructure Rail project and training provision is available for National Flood Resilience personnel. Canal & River Trust approved contractors with ties to the pontoon and specialist marine plant sectors.

Procurement and provision of specialist floating equipment, access solutions, and safety management systems and training all in one package.

Approved Training providers for Outreach Rescue, The Maritime & Coastguard Agency, the Royal Yachting Association, the Royal Life Saving Society and the Canal & River Trust’s ‘in-house’ training scheme,’ CAATS’, a broad portfolio of courses are on offer.

Sector specific training can be advised upon, and accredited courses delivered ‘in-house’ by our specialist training team.  Aquatic PPE and safety / rescue / medical equipment can be procured for clients from our framework of suppliers. Workboat and Rescue boat training a speciality.

Recent courses developed by Birmingham & Midland Marine Services include a bespoke ‘Small / Inflatable Craft’ course for the Canal & River Trust’s Craft Licencing Department and an ‘Inland Waters – Rescue Boat Operator’ course, certificated by Outreach Rescue.

This new rescue boat course bridges the gap in the safety / rescue boat training sector. Basic Powerboat handling and ‘sailing club’ type ‘Safety Boat’ qualifications were not designed to satisfy commercial or industrial safety / rescue vessel role requirements -the DEFRA Module 4) Rescue Boat qualification which is utilised by Fire & Rescue specialists in ‘swift-water’ and flood environments is ‘over-kill’ for the requirements of a ‘standard’ safety / rescue boat crew working in many land-locked counties, hence the development of a far more suitable and accessible training course.

This new RBO course is ideally suited to companies wishing to provide an element of in-house support on the water, derived from the higher-level course yet excluding the fast-flowing water, tidal and coastal considerations. The syllabus includes casualty management, recovery, shallow-water operations, capsize drills and search considerations.

For those companies looking to provide their personnel with relevant First Aid Marine Environment training, encompassing elements such as the protocol for drowning within CPR, crushing, amputations, use of tourniquets, cold water shock, hydrostatic squeeze and vasoconstriction; elements not found in a ‘standard’ First Aid at Work course, Birmingham & Midland Marine work with our TQUK registered partner to provide bespoke marine environment Level 3 TQUKS regulated (RQF) Emergency First aid at Work, First Aid at Work and First Responder (IPOS) courses. 1, 3 and 5-day courses available. The higher-level award also covers spinal management and oxygen therapy.

Royal Yachting Association VHF radio and First Aid courses also available at Gailey Wharf Training Centre with our partnering trainers.

Occupational Water Safety & Rescue courses are, in the main delivered via the Outreach Rescue DEFRA training programme. Based upon the DEFRA Flood Rescue Concept of Operations documentation, and commercial river-based courses are based around the Annex ‘H’ syllabus, satisfying the Environment Agency as well as DEFRA. Basic DEFRA Module 1), Module 2) Water Rescue First Responder and Module 3) Water Rescue One Technician courses also available in ‘closed course’ format by arrangement.

Commercial Boat courses include workboat oriented RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman Certificate training, Powerboat Level 2, Rescue Boat Operator and Maritime & Coastguard Agency Boat Master training, including ‘Boat Fire Safety’ and ‘Water Safety & Personal Survival’ ancillary courses.

With the company’s primary base being canalside at Gailey Wharf on the Staffs & Worcester Canal, Base-Two at a privately owned stately home with sixty-acre lake and licences and permissions in place for various other venues including National Trust property, our training areas a both diverse and dynamic: the marina, farm shop and cafe at one of our training venues in Great Haywood, Staffordshire is owned by the descendants of the inventor of the lifejacket!

New courses are being developed and accreditation is underway, examples include the ‘Inland Waters Marine Operator Programme’. The IWMOP is full suite of courses available as a package and aimed at those looking to break into the inland and open water commercial sector is currently being developed for roll-out during the Spring of 2022. The ‘IWMOP’; is a four-week programme developed to take a novice to a sufficient level of competency to begin working in this expanding sector.

Another course under development is our ‘Workboat’ course; specifically designed to provide relevant training and experience to commercial skippers and coxswains, working on category ‘A’ & ‘B’ waters, canals, and non-tidal rivers. Covering craft ranging from small inflatables, landing craft, displacement workboats, pusher tugs and towing operations. Again, breaching a gap between a leisure oriented RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman licence and a full Maritime & Coast Guard Agency Boat Master’s Licence.

A ‘Rescue & Recovery from Lock Chambers’ course and a boat-based HIAB Operator course are also planned for the 2022 season.

Further information can be found on the company website: www.midlandmarine.co.uk and the Management team are always happy to invite potential clients to their Gailey Wharf canalside depot or our second training centre and event location at the Chillington Estate in Staffordshire to discuss their requirements.

First of all, a little background.

Canal living is particularly attractive to retirees… as a result, the boating community tends to be significantly older, on average, than the population at large (the latest reliable estimates suggest that, since the turn of the millennium, the mean age of a permanent boater had risen by a little over four years, to 59).

Sadly, the wisdom of age is served with a generous side order of underlying health conditions, ominously referred to in these pandemic times as 'co-morbidities'.  A fact that I know all too well!

It gradually dawned on me that, should I become incapacitated in some way, then giving first responders or carers access to my medical information would significantly improve my treatment and prognosis.

My own research revealed that all front line emergency workers (Police, Fire fighters, Paramedics & hospital medical staff etc.) are trained to look in a non-responsive patient's wallet, purse, bag or pockets for medical notifications.  They also routinely examine a patient's wrists for 'medical alert' bracelets;  silicone wrist bands that are widely available to purchase on the internet from around a fiver or so, and cover a wide variety of conditions and drugs.  Unfortunately, these bands only alert to one specific condition or medication.

In my case;  I have type 2 diabetes, and take anticoagulants (so called 'blood thinners'), beta-blockers and a vasodilator for a heart condition, so I used to wear four.

I should, in fact, have worn at least one more, but the medications prescribed for that particular condition changed too frequently for my Amazon account to keep up with all of the orders… thank goodness I didn't have any dangerous allergies, or I would have run out of arms!  :o)

With a professional background in web software development, I set about designing a better mousetrap, and the result is now available to you as MyAlerts!

Editor's note: I sent off for my own MyAlerts! pack, which arrived promptly. I then went online to activate my card and fill in my medical information. It was very easy to do. I now wear the wristband all the time, and go nowhere without my MyAlerts! card - usually tucked in my phone case. I have the reassurance that now, should anything happen to me, all of my medical details are available to those who will need them, and my pets will be safe.

To order your own pack today, simply go to MyAlerts!

How do they work? Place the Stirling engine on top of a heated surface and let it warm up. Once the air inside the cylinder has heated at the base of the engine, it is forced up by the displacer to the cool top plate. As this sealed volume of air moves from the warm base to the cooler top plate, it expands and contracts. While it expands it pushes the piston up; and when it contracts it pulls the piston down. The piston is connected to a crank shaft and the oscillating cycle rotates the crank.

Because Stirling engines are very precise little devices, they need to be built with extra care and attention. However the effort is greatly rewarded when the crank rotates and the engine begins to work - this is when the engine produces mechanical power. Industrial Stirling engines produce so much mechanical power that they are used in cryogenic refrigeration, submarine propulsion, and electrical production. At Warpfive Fans... we use the power to spin a fan blade. Our stove fans are so efficient that you can reduce your fuel usage by up to 22%, and heat your narrow boat up to 40% faster.

thermodynamic mumbo jumbo…

Now you know what a Stirling engine is. But why complicate life by delving into this world of thermodynamic mumbo jumbo? The answer is simple really – at Warpfive we care about our planet. Efficient thermodynamic management systems are the future.

Stirling engines are highly compatible with alternative and renewable energy sources. They are extremely efficient, work quietly and can be used on almost any heat source. The Stirling engine is currently exciting interest as the core component of solar powered electricity generators, as well as in the space industry to power satellites.

At Warpfive we’ve gradually expanded our range of Stirling engines to include a variety of stove fans for use on top of your log stove or diesel heater, as well as aroma diffusers and table fans for use in your home. However we still spend an enormous amount of time researching emerging technology and examining the performance of low-emission alternative power sources. Why? – Because we are on a constant drive to improve our products by making them even more efficient.

Over the last 13 years, our ‘Stirling idea’ has evolved into a small family run business. We design and hand-build all of our products here in the UK, whilst always aiming to make a positive contribution to our planet.

Enter our FREE PRIZE DRAW with a chance to win one of these amazing stove fans.

Together they painted the panels in Craftmasters heritage green undercoat with a red frame, yellow undercoat around the panels and, after painting roses and daisies, they added scumble paint and 2 coats of clear varnish.

"There were 36 panels in total and we counted 124 roses, we didn’t even count the daisies!"

If you would like your boat doors and panels painted with roses and castles, or items for your boat, please contact us. Julie  and Kerri.

I decorate narrowboats and all sorts of items for narrowboats including water cans, stools, coal skuttles etc. I trade on e bay as "juliecanalart", you can find me on e bay in the "canal barge ware" section. I am also to be found at canal fetes and craft fayres.

I teach canal art as a college subject and to groups

Contact Julie by email, visit her website,  or follow her on Facebook.

Hi I’m Kerri - artist, designer and chief mischief maker at The Heritage Crafter.

My passion is decorative art, created on the boat dock or in my paint splattered workshop. The results can be seen here.

Although I have a range of ready painted items, commissions are always welcome.

Contact Kerri by email, visit her website or follow her on Facebook

With winters getting colder and sub-zero temperatures becoming more common, River Canal Rescue has put together some tips on how to winterise your narrowboat and so avoid costly repair bills.