Tuesday 3 January 2017

Where’s the drone?

The temperature dropped to the forecast 0°C overnight but to our surprise there was no frost on the towpath when we awoke this morning.  It was rather crisp however this was more than compensated by the bright clear blue sky. 
You might recall we mentioned running out of space on our hard drives in a recent post.  I did some online searching on Boxing Day placing an order with Amazon for a third 2TB usb external hard drive.  To my surprise we received an email on the 29th December advising the order had been fulfilled.  The next day (30th) another email arrived stating the order had been despatched.  Since then every time we’ve heard the sound of an overhead aircraft I’ve gone out on the back of the boat looking for Jeremy Clarkson’s delivery drone!  Today we received a delivery update.  The package will arrive sometime between 9 – 11 January.  Obviously Amazon aren’t using a drone to deliver our order.  My guess is it’s being sent from the Orkneys in the hands of a one legged man on a three wheeled skateboard!
With time on our hands I’ve been closely examining the Waterway Routes BCN canal map.  I’m particularly interested in the abandoned and former, canals, arms and wharfs which are recorded on the map.  Once you’ve noted their location on the map they become very obvious when cruising or walking.
There are two short former loading arms/wharfs not far from our current mooring.
P1030637
You can see the bricked up entrance to one under the towpath bridge In the above photo.  The land behind the bridge is vacant and the outline in Google Earth suggests it might have been a rectangular basin.  No doubt one of many on the BCN!

2 comments :

KevinTOO said...

Happy New Year to you both :)

Here's a couple of links that might keep you gainfully occupied Tom (and out of your hair too Jan...LOL)

They are both from Andy Tidy's Wand'ring Bark blog...

http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/p/bcn-backwaters.html

http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/p/lost-canals.html

Andy Tidy said...

There were literally thousands of old basins on the BCN - the old equivalent of a loading bay. Exploring the lost 60 miles of the BCN is a very rewarding pass time.