By: Blonde Two
This weekend, Mr Blonde Two and I have travelled to Up-North. We, along with a homemade (not by us) canoe, a slug called Sheridan and a spider called Tarquin, took a long time to get here but are having a great time with Six-Foot-Blonde. (Who knew that one day kids could grow up and invite you to their own house!)
I would like to report that Sheridan sadly met his end on the M5 when he made the mistake of prematurely exiting the canoe onto the truck windscreen; it was raining at the time – say no more! Tarquin, however, not only survived the journey, he has now also withstood a dunking in the Rochdale Canal.
The homemade canoe also now has a name. Evie proved a bit on the wobbly side and Mr B2’s trip in her was a short one. Six-Foot does canoeing for a living and managed to persuade Evie to do a lap or two of the area without tipping him out into the mirk.
Evie has a story: Made in the Lake District from two pieces of plywood, she eventually found her way (with help from Six-Foot) to Devon for a bit of TLC and a joining together. We then had a complete but unvarnished canoe adorning our garden for about six years. She has now made her way back to Up-North and had a worthy christening yesterday afternoon.
Because she didn’t sink him, Six-Foot has promised Evie a few coats of varnish and a home with him. I hope that Tarquin survives the varnish and quickly picks up the necessary Yorkshire/Lancashire accents.
What a tease; of course I want to know the location. My guess is somewhere on the Rochdale Canal, perhaps Hebden Bridge?
The construction is very similar to the rowing skiff I made. If Blonde 2 intends to varnish rather than paint I would strongly recommend the extra cost of epoxy two part varnish – it is vastly superior to standard yacht varnish.
Oops I do beg your pardon 😉 Lovely day in Up-North today!
Thanks for the tip. Rochdale Canal yes! Tod though, not Happen Bridge. We played another game with the canal. Watch this blogspace 🙂
That is Hebden Bridge. I’ve got my eye on the Rochdale for a walk. I’ve not been on its towpath but I know the surrounding area well – I worked in Halifax back in the early 60s as a motor finance rep and covered all that area.
Ahem: ‘Yorkshire/Lancashire accents’? Two distinctive accents there. You need to be VERY careful using those two county names in the same sentence…..folk around here get very touchy about that sort of thing.
Oh, and around here it’s ‘murk’.
Just sayin’…
🙂
JJ
While in Hebden Bridge, did you meet Geoffrey, and if so, is he still wearing clogs?