'Zindagi' is a colourful word for 'life', originally from ancient Persia and now used in many languages across the north of the Indian subcontinent. We met in North India in the early 1970s and have made several visits back there to visit old friends and make new ones. 'NB' just stands for 'narrowboat'!
After nearly 6 years living on our narrowboat 'Zindagi', we returned to rural mid-Devon in January 2013 and, several years later, are still busy sorting out our bungalow and the 4 acres of land!
The bungalow is looking much better, but getting the land back to good condition again will take a LOT longer!
While we were away on the canals, it suffered from the terrible effects of being completely cultivated (more than we had ever done) and then being completely neglected, so that we came back to a rampant jungle of well-established weeds. The increasing demands of our Garden Tools business left us little time to really get stuck in to land reclamation but we passed the tools business on in February 2022 and so gave ourselves the opportunity to start pushing back the boundaries again! It will not be a quick process . . .
This blog started as a way of keeping friends and family in touch with our narrowboat travels, starting in 2007, but we understand that other visitors often find us, so WELCOME! If you would like to start reading at the beginning, here is a link to take you to the very first page.
Both of us take pictures on our simple Canon digital cameras - nothing very technical at all! We now have thousands of them, so selecting the ones to use can be difficult!
To see any of the photos enlarged, just click on it.
What's the Score?
In our travels from the 27th March 2007 to 5th November 2012, we went through 5205 locks to date and travelled an estimated 7122 miles.
The total for 2012 was 590 locks and 855 miles.
Plan? What Plan?
When we started out in 2007, we had a vague idea of the main places we wanted to go first, and then worked out where we might go after that. Our plans have been flexible, to say the least, and we like it that way!
In 2007, though we started up in Lancashire, we headed south and spent spent most of our time exploring some of the waterways in the south of the UK – but not all of them!
In 2008, we headed north and stayed there for most of the year, heading southwards in November to moor up in Blisworth Marina for the first time. After that, it became our usual winter 'home' until early 2013.
2009 found us fitting our cruising around Val's replacement knee joint operations in January and July. They were very successful! In the Spring, we went down the Nene to the River Great Ouse and the Cambridgeshire Fens. After the second op, and more recovery time in Blisworth, we set off for the Kennet and Avon Canal, via Braunston, the southern Oxford Canal, Oxford and the Thames.
An eventful time on the K & A, and a magnificent frosty journey back up the Thames from Reading to Oxford – and we entered 2010.
To start with, largely immobile in Aynho and Blisworth, but then we headed north-east via Leicester and Nottingham to the River Trent, from which we branched off wherever we could, down to Lincoln and Boston and back, then along the Chesterfield Canal and back before leaving the Trent on our way to Rotherham and Sheffield.
Then north and west over the Pennines by the Rochdale Canal, down to Manchester and then via the Macclesfield, Trent & Mersey and Staffs & Worcs Canals south to near Wolverhampton, via Birmingham and on down to the Severn at Worcester. Right down to Sharpness, then back up to Stourport, to head up the Staffs. & Worcs. Canal near to Wolverhampton again.
Blisworth again for the winter, then in the spring of 2011 we took a trip down the Grand Union to London, through and out the other side to the Lee and Stort – and slowly back! Then over to the Stratford Avon and up the Severn to visit the newly re-opened Droitwich Canals.
By boat to London for Jeremy and Laura's wedding in October 2011, then back to our 'second home' in Blisworth for the winter, enjoying a little more involvement with Christian folks there, too.
In 2012 we started by heading north again to see the Caldon Canal in the Spring, then changed our plans and decided to cross the Pennines again - up and down the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and then back over the Leeds & Liverpool to the Bridgewater. Our proposed visit to the 'Shroppie' and the Llangollen followed on after that – beautiful countryside on the way and once we were there.
Then onto the southern section of the 'Shroppie' and from there the Staffs. & Worcs. – we decided not to go down to Stourport but turned north again to Great Haywood, then south via the Trent & Mersey to the River Trent and then the the River Soar – up to Leicester.
From there, we dawdled back towards Blisworth for the winter again. The folks at the marina were expecting us on 5th November 2012, and we just managed to avoid being there early!
January 2013 saw us move back to the land in Lapford, and very little 'boat-related activity' until October 2014, when we moved Zindagi onto the 11-mile long Grand Western Canal near Tiverton in Devon. 3 years there gave us the opportunity to carry out some needed maintenance, but we did very little cruising!
The future? Well, as you can see, we moved Zindagi back onto the main national canal system in early October 2017. Just those couple of days gave us a fresh taste of enjoying life on board – almost like old times!
So, we hope to get out for some more trips, hopefully sometimes with friends, re-exploring some of our old haunts. Looks like there may be some interest from the younger members of the family, too. Lots of different routes to follow from Hatherton! Only about 3 hours drive to get there from Lapford – not too bad!
Pronounced . . .
Sometimes people ask how to pronounce 'Zindagi'. The emphasis is on the first syllable, the first 'i' is short, the last one is long and the 'g' is hard, so you might think of it as being spelt 'Zinderghee', with 'zinder' to rhyme with 'cinder'. Hope that helps!
Sometimes people wonder how we get our letters and the supply of tools that Dave sells over the internet. Ashton-under-Lyne was an example of how it works – and doesn't! We had phoned ahead and asked if we could have a parcel of tools delivered to the boatyard there. That was fine, and it arrived the day after we did. Excellent timing! Shireen had posted our letters in London on the Monday, but by the Thursday they had still not arrived. The Post Office started by claiming that they didn't do Poste Restante there but, even when they had 'discovered' that they did, our letters could still not be found. We couldn't wait any longer, but left our mobile number and moved on up to Stalybridge to be ready to meet David and Julie. As we started out eastwards, we saw the first glimpses of Pennine moorlands rising over our industrial surroundings, before we came to Stalybridge. Before the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was resurrected as a Millenium project, parts of it had been hidden away in culverts under Stalybridge streets. Now the canal forms a welcome focus for the centre of the town as it threads its way through street and square – and past Tesco's! Once David and Julie had safely parked their car (thanks to Mr Whitehead at the Methodist Church) we moved out east and north towards the Pennines. After their first night afloat, we soon came to Scout Tunnel, and David fancied sitting on the front as we went through – certainly a unique experience! The countryside was gradually getting more rugged as the locks took us higher up the Pennine foothills. . . and David & Julie were rapidly getting into canal boating, learning to operate the locks and the boat. As seems to happen with many of our visitors, they came for a holiday and ended up working their socks off! But at least it looks as though they enjoyed the experience – or are those smiles of pleasure really grimaces of panic or overwork? As you can see from the 'wet weather gear', there was quite a bit of rain, though not as much as we had feared from the forecast! With these extra crew members eager to move on, we travelled further than we had expected, just beyond Uppermill in the Saddleworth area of 'Greater Manchester', where many of the locals still reckon that they live in Yorkshire (as they did until the boundaries were changed years ago!) At this point, we had to turn around, for two reasons. Firstly to get David and Julie back to their car in Stalybridge, and secondly as no boats can go further unless they are planning to go through the 3¼ mile Standedge Tunnel. We were booked for passage on the following Friday, and D & J needed to be back in Devon before that. They made up for it by walking up the remaining mile and a half (and nine locks) to see the tunnel mouth, with its gates in the striking design of a boat being 'legged' through the tunnel. Then back down all those 17 locks (but only 6 miles) to Stalybridge, but not without some excitement. The boat went aground very badly in a short 'pound' (section of canal between two locks) and we had to let some more water down to float it off the mud. What we hadn't realised was that the people on the boat in front of us were still filling the lock as we came down the lock above. Then we needed to refill the same lock after they had gone down, and the pound was so short that the level dropped dramatically. Another lesson learned – but we were so busy getting the boat off the mud that no-one took a picture! Just at the lower lock, we saw our first duckling of the year again. He and his Mum had been there the day before, but this time we DID get a photo! No other dramas on the way back down, except that this time it was Julie's turn to ride on the front of the boat through Scout Tunnel, and she got this great picture of the rock formations in it. And, just to finish this episode, here she is as the 'figurehead' on the front of Zindagi. We certainly enjoyed having David & Julie with us, and we get the feeling that they may be back for more – great!
Sometimes people wonder how we get our letters and the supply of tools that Dave sells over the internet. Ashton-under-Lyne was an example of how it works – and doesn't! We had phoned ahead and asked if we could have a parcel of tools delivered to the boatyard there. That was fine, and it arrived the day after we did. Excellent timing! Shireen had posted our letters in London on the Monday, but by the Thursday they had still not arrived. The Post Office started by claiming that they didn't do Poste Restante there but, even when they had 'discovered' that they did, our letters could still not be found. 
We couldn't wait any longer, but left our mobile number and moved on up to Stalybridge to be ready to meet David and Julie. As we started out eastwards, we saw the first glimpses of Pennine moorlands rising over our industrial surroundings, before we came to Stalybridge. Before the Huddersfield Narrow Canal was resurrected as a Millenium project, parts of it had been hidden away in culverts under Stalybridge streets. Now the canal forms a welcome focus for the centre of the town as it threads its way through street and square – and past Tesco's! Once David and Julie had safely parked their car (thanks to Mr Whitehead at the Methodist Church) we moved out east and north towards the Pennines. 
After their first night afloat, we soon came to Scout Tunnel, and David fancied sitting on the front as we went through – certainly a unique experience! 
The countryside was gradually getting more rugged as the locks took us higher up the Pennine foothills. . . and David & Julie were rapidly getting into canal boating, learning to operate the locks and the boat.
As seems to happen with many of our visitors, they came for a holiday and ended up working their socks off! But at least it looks as though they enjoyed the experience – or are those smiles of pleasure really grimaces of panic or overwork? As you can see from the 'wet weather gear', 
there was quite a bit of rain, though not as much as we had feared from the forecast! With these extra crew members eager to move on, we travelled further than we had expected, just beyond 
Uppermill in the Saddleworth area of 'Greater Manchester', where many of the locals still reckon that they live in Yorkshire (as they did until the boundaries were changed years ago!) 
At this point, we had to turn around, for two reasons. Firstly to get David and Julie back to their car in Stalybridge, and secondly as no boats can go further unless they are planning to go through the 3¼ mile Standedge Tunnel. We were booked for passage on the following Friday, and D & J needed to be back in Devon before that. 
They made up for it by walking up the remaining mile and a half (and nine locks) to see the tunnel mouth, with its gates in the striking design of a boat being 'legged' through the tunnel. Then back down all those 17 locks (but only 6 miles) to Stalybridge, but not without some excitement. The boat went aground very badly in a short 'pound' (section of canal between two locks) and we had to let some more water down to float it off the mud. What we hadn't realised was that the people on the boat in front of us were still filling the lock as we came down the lock above. Then we needed to refill the same lock after they had gone down, and the pound was so short that the level dropped dramatically.
Another lesson learned – but we were so busy getting the boat off the mud that no-one took a picture! Just at the lower lock, we saw our first duckling of the year again. He and his Mum had been there the day before, but this time we DID get a photo! No other dramas on the way back down, 
except that this time it was Julie's turn to ride on the front of the boat through Scout Tunnel, and she got this great picture of the rock formations in it. 
And, just to finish this episode, here she is as the 'figurehead' on the front of Zindagi. We certainly enjoyed having David & Julie with us, and we get the feeling that they may be back for more – great!
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