We have sadly become accustomed to

our resident ducks producing four or five

ducklings but losing a few to pike and

other predators before they became full-

grown.

So it was with some sentiment that we

watched as the weeks passed when one

Mother Duck brought a full complement

of 12 ducklings to adulthood.

Whenever she was seen with them we’d

all be anxiously head-counting to check

that they were all present and correct and

word would be passed around the Marina

that all was well.

It was suggested that perhaps some of the

12 Apostles (as they came to be known)

were just adopted, but regardless of that it

was some feat that they grew to the stage

where we couldn’t tell them apart from

the adults and they have been absorbed

into the large paddling of ducks in the

Marina.

Mother of the Year Award

In the meantime, get

yourself a warming cup of

tea (or something stronger

if you prefer) and settle

yourself down to read the

Marina news and what we

have planned for the winter

season.

Many people have offered

ideas for events and the

newsletter. If you have a

story to tell or photos to

contribute about your

cruising this year, please do

send them to us and we

will include them in the

Winter newsletter.

Judging by the sudden cold

snap we have been

experiencing perhaps we

can safely assume that

summer is over. For

wimpy/sensible (delete as

applicable) boaters it is

time to winterise boats and

hibernate. But we are

planning a number of

events at the Marina which

will hopefully give you an

excuse to visit your boat

over winter and to socialise

with us and other Moorers.

It was a busy summer at

the Marina with many

Moorers joining us for

barbecues on Friday and

Saturday evenings. These

were casual affairs with

everyone bringing their

own food and drinks – no

invitations necessary. We

will try to hold some more

during autumn whenever

the weather is favourable.

September 2010

Autumn Newsletter

Blisworth Marina

Blisworth Marina

Blisworth Arm

Blisworth

NN7 3FG

Northamptonshire

England

Telephone: 01604-879827

E-mail: info@blisworthmarina.co.uk

www.blisworthmarina.co.uk

We have compiled a Welcome

Pack for new Moorers which

gives a wealth of local

information.

If you would like one please

pick up a copy from the office

any length of time, please

provide the registration

number to the Marina

office with length of stay

so that we can ensure we

keep an eye on these

vehicles.

Whilst on the subject of

guests and friends, kindly

let us know if someone else

is taking your boat out,

including for repairs.

Sometimes boats go out

with strangers on board and

we have no way of

knowing whether you have

authorised the use of your

boat and naturally our

primary concern is the

We are aware that parking

spaces are sometimes at a

premium. In order to

ensure that the maximum

amount of parking is

available to Moorers we

will be making some minor

changes.

The parking in the rough

semi-circle from the

Marina office around to

�B Penelope’s stern will

be allocated for Moorers’

use only.

We will be marking

parking spaces out on the

curb to make the most of

available space.

New & Used Boat

Company staff and visitors

will be encouraged to park

alongside the fence.

Visitors and disabled

parking will be signposted

in front of the building.

If you arrive and a spot in

our Moorers’ area is not

open you are completely

free to moor (sorry - park)

wherever you wish. We

aren’t intending to make

this something that is cast

in stone.

If you are leaving your car

long term or you have

guests leaving a vehicle for

Parking

Blisworth Marina Page 2

Recycling Amongst items left was an

old but perfectly

serviceable Henry vacuum

cleaner.

We are keeping him for the

use of Moorers who may

not have a vacuum cleaner

on board. Please let us

know if you would like to

use him and he will be at

your service.

The recycling basket has

been a source of

amusement and amazement

- many and varied items

have passed through,

anything and everything

from two Father Xmas

hats, vases, salt and pepper

sets to a DVD Recorder.

They all came … and they

all went. So five stars to

all our Moorers who so

happily gave and received.

Worthy of special mention

is the diligent Moorer who

left a single plastic

coathanger in the recycling

basket and equally worthy

of special mention is the

Moorer who took it.

Now that’s what we call

entering into the true spirit

of things!

Our thanks to Brian and Ann (NB Free Thyme) for

the DAB radio and Ian and Alison (NB Nobby) for the

CD Player. We will be putting the radio in the

laundry room so that we can be serenaded while we

do our washing. The CD Player will provide us with

a far better selection of music at barbecues than the

old tape deck did. Needless to say the tape deck

was left in the recycling basket and duly disappeared

to a new home, along with the box of tapes!

Thanks also go to John (WB Octo Mariniii) for the

small fridge in the office - handy for keeping beers

cold when we are barbecuing!

The process of getting the grassed areas to look great does take

time. After only two treatments a high percentage of the weeds

have gone and we aim to keep it that way so that the Marina

looks attractive to us all. Some of the larger weeds such as the

thistles do leave gaps where they have been but in time these

will fill in.

The next treatment will be in autumn. This helps the grass

become greener, toughens the grass to withstand the harshness

of the winter months and inhibits the development of moss.

After that, the next treatment won’t be until next spring since

grass and weeds don’t grow over the winter months. In spring it

will have a good feed to help it grow green and healthily. Any

emerging weeds will also be treated.

It must be stressed that all the products used by Green Thumb

are not harmful in any way to humans, wildlife or pets.

Patchy Banks

Local Events • 1st to 3rd October - Britcar 24 hours at Silverstone

• 2nd and 3rd October - Stoke Bruerne Village at War

• 3rd October - Banbury Canal Festival

• 12th October at 8pm - Northampton IWA Branch

Meeting. Talk by Roger Butler on “Up the Mac”. All

IWA events are held at the Walnut Tree Inn

• 14th October at 8pm - Friends of the Canal Museum -

talk by Liam D’Arcy Brown on “The Grand Canal of

China”

• 29th October at 7.30pm - Friends of the Canal Museum

- Auction of Promises at The Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne.

Can you promise to do something or give something

which can be auctioned to raise funds to help the

Museum?

• 6th to 7th November -Walter Hayes Trophy at

Silverstone

• 9th November at 8pm - Northampton IWA Branch

Meeting - talk by Liam D-Arcy Brown on “China’s

Grand Canal”

• 18th November at 8pm- Friends of the Canal Museum -

talk - speaker to be confirmed

• 11th December, 5pm onwards - Friends of the Canal

Museum - Christmas Carols and Illuminated Boats.

Hot food and beverages, lantern procession, carol

singing on the Museum Green, village gift shops open

and prizes awarded to the best illuminated boat

• 14th December, Northampton Branch Meeting -

Christmas Social and Quiz with Mick and Catriona

Butler

September to November 2010 Page 3

We will be holding a Hot Dog Bonfire Night on Saturday

6th November at 7pm in the cleared area. A bonfire will be

lit in a 45 gallon drum and

the barbecues will be going

strong. Please bring your

sausages, rolls, drinks and a

few fireworks. No banging

fireworks please! We don’t

want to upset any animals.

Bonfire Night

Paul (�B Trojan) has trained as a Caller and is

running traditional American Barn Dances weekly

in Blisworth. This dancing is fantastic fun and a

really great way to get fit. You don’t need to be a

dancing expert or go with a partner either because

partners change with every dance. Don’t be shy -

get on the floor and have a go!

Blisworth Marina Page 4

Arrival 7.00pm

Meal served 7.30pm

Music starts 9.30pm

and finishes at 12 midnight

Bar closes 12.30am

Christmas Party! To Start

Roasted butternut squash and ginger soup (V)

finished with coriander oil

Chef’s homemade coarse pork, walnut and apricot paté

served with a plum and apple chutney and toast

Chilled honeydew melon (V) with a cinnamon scented wild berry compote

Crab and smoked trout roulade

with a lime marinated fennel and caper berry salad

Main Course

Roast Turkey Served with the traditional accompaniments

of bacon roll, chipolata, walnut, celery and apricot stuffing and roast gravy

Roast rump of Herefordshire beef

with a caramelised shallot and green pepper sauce

Baked fillet of salmon topped with a roasted garlic and basil crust,

served with a white butter sauce

Butter roasted breast of guinea fowl filled with a herb mousseline, served with a smoked bacon and wild mushroom jus

Spinach, goats cheese and chestnut pie (V) finished with a sun dried tomato dressing

Roasted Mediterranean vegetable stack (V)

with tomato and garlic sauce

Main course served with chef’s selection of seasonal vegetables and potatoes

To Finish (V)

Fresh fruit salad with a cinnamon and cranberry syrup

Rich chocolate torte

with a compote of black cherries

Deep filled lemon tart with chantilly cream

Chef’s home made traditional Christmas pudding

with brandy sauce

A selection of English and Continental cheeses with biscuits, grapes and celery

Coffee/Tea

Join us on the 18th of December for the Marina Chistmas Party

at the Walnut Tree Inn.

The cost is £31.50 per person and includes dancing.

Please let us know by Friday, 8th October if you would like to

attend so that we can make a provisional booking. We will then

need a deposit of £10 per person by Friday, 14th October to

confirm the booking and menu selections, any special dietary

meals and full payment by Friday, 3rd December. Cancellations

or non-arrivals after this time are non-refundable and non-

transferable by the hotel.

We can arrange a people carrier taxi service at a cost of £3.75

per person from the Marina at 6.30pm and returning to the

Marina at 12.00am. This would apply for a minimum of eight

people. Please add this to your payment if you would prefer not

to walk or drive.

Weekly Check

• Electric meter and top up

cards (cards to be paid

for)

• Batteries charging from

shore power

• Heaters left on over

winter

• Tightness of mooring

ropes

• Water ingress, leaks and

condensation in cabin

• Visual safety check on

shore line

Monthly Check

• Start engine and leave

running until normal

operating temperature

reached

• Batteries charging from

engine

• Top up batteries as

required

• Condition of ropes,

fenders and fixings

• Check engine bilge for

leaks

If you won’t be able to

come over to your boat

regularly during the winter,

please remember our

Narrowboat Nanny

Maintenance and

Monitoring service only

costs £25 a month.

Over-Wintering Your Boat

the event of a fire? They

recommend that you make

sure you know the location

of the nearest road

whenever you moor up.

If you haven’t cleaned your

fire or chimney out recently

please keep in mind that

Ben Taylor is our local

Chimney Sweep and is a

Fireman as well. He will

gladly clean, inspect and

repair wood-burning and

multi-fuel stoves.

Better safe than sorry!

Now that the colder

weather is upon us and the

smell of wood fires is in

the air, telling us that

boaters are lighting up their

fires, please remember that

the Northamptonshire Fire

& Rescue Service offer a

boat safety check and

advice on:

• How to make your boat

safer

• What to do in the event

of a fire

• What to do if you are

trapped by a fire

They will also fit a free

smoke and carbon

monoxide alarm and

explain how to maintain

them correctly.

Boaters who took

advantage of this service

earlier in the year were

very impressed with the

advice and it is well worth

having them on board.

For instance, did you ever

think that the nearest

bridge number isn’t

necessarily the best way to

give them your location in

Fire - is your boat safe?

The Cheese Boat is in the

Marina until Thursday.

The Fudge Boat will stop by on

their way to Stoke Bruerne on

Wednesday.

Make sure you don’t miss out

on their delicious goodies!

Blisworth Marina Page 5

Funds for the planned pocket park

have been boosted by funding from the

Northampton IWA of £1,000 and at

least that amount from the 2010 Canal

Festival.

Plans are being made to start work

clearing shrubs, burning and

replanting during November,

December and January. Blisworth

Canal Partnership will be organizing

clearing weekends and volunteers to

help will be gladly welcomed. We

will let you know when they set dates

for the clearing weekends.

Blisworth Pocket Park

Are there any green-fingered Moorers who would like to

form a garden club to transform the large piece of land

that was cleared during the summer?

Very slowly the grass is coming through the weeds now

and this is a lovely opportunity to convert what is

currently a blank slate from the Garden of Weedon to the

Garden of Eden. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that!)

Some of the suggestions we have had are for a herb

garden, a wildflower meadow, a garden games space and a

barbecue area. Please let us know if you would like to

join up with other gardening enthusiasts in the Marina to

plan and bring about a transformation.

Gardening anyone?

Blisworth Marina

Former moorers, temporary moorers or simply just friends of the Marina are welcome to

come along and join us at our events.

If we have you on our mailing list and you would prefer not to receive our newsletter and

updates, please call us or email info@blisworthmarina.co.uk and we will remove you from

our list.

If you are receiving our newsletter by post and you have an email address please let us

know so that we can send the newsletter by email - we want to do our best to save trees!

And on that note, we wish you pleasant cruising for what is left of the year and look

forward to seeing you at the Marina.

Kind regards,

Peter Moore

Mike Bragg

Steve & Claire Williams

John Smith

Hand Signals

Are you always able to

communicate with each

other when going through

the locks? Learn some

useful hand signals.

Tunnel Safety

What would you do if

someone fell off the boat in

the tunnel? Learn how to

deal with every eventuality

when travelling through

tunnels.

Our winter newsletter will

give you dates and costs.

If you have any ideas for

other events or get-

togethers please do let us

know.

We are planning the

following events for

January and February:

Make-Over Day

Ladies, let Barbie (�B

Adagio), a lecturer in hair

and beauty, give you a

make-over and then David

(�B Blue Moon), a

professional photographer,

will take a picture you will

be proud to show everyone.

This will be a real ladies

day accompanied by wine

and snacks.

First Aid

How confident are you in

your first aid skills? Every

year nearly 150,000 people

die in situations where first

aid could have given them

a chance to live. Basic first

aid can be the difference

between a life lost and a

life saved.

We will be running a first

aid course enabling you to

learn these vital skills or

brush up on your

knowledge.

Knot Tuition

Improve your knotting

skills and learn to splice.

At the heart of the canals,

with your boat at heart

Blisworth Marina

Blisworth Arm

Blisworth

Telephone: 01604-879827

E-mail:

info@blisworthmarina.co.uk

www.blisworthmarina.co.uk

Winter Events

If you need a winter scarf

call in at the office - we

have hand knitted scarves

on sale for £3 each

Proceeds are in aid of the

British Kidney Foundation

to enable patients to have

dialysis at home