Horus's video blog

[Horus]

Thanks Kiya, sorry if that bit upset you, that was not my intention, I just wanted to impart some of the thoughts and feelings that go on in your mind as you walk along and at times contemplate your life. Sometimes the saddest thing about losing someone is that many things will trigger a memory of them in some way, often when visiting familiar places or doing certain activities. I usually walk alone and only have Annie for company and although I am quite gregarious and will often stop and chat with strangers whether they be other dog walkers or the bargees along the canals, it can still be lonely at times with plenty of time for thought.

About the locks, if you mean the length of the locks, well I would say around 100 feet or so is average as they were meant to accommodate working barges. Some, but not many are still well over 70 to 80 feet long, while others are around half of that length. This is because they often took the old 90 footers and cut them in half to convert then to modern leisure craft. If you mean the distance between each lock, well that is hard to say as there will be more locks close together if the terrain is steep and further apart if the change of ground level is less steep.

[Kiya]

No need for apoligies, its just that I've being going through my own memories lately of my Mam, it will be 13yrs to her on 29th, reading in yours just set me off.

Thanks for the info & I did mean the distance between each lock, I don't think I would have the patience with all the waiting for water to go down then up

[Horus]

Yes Kiya dates are also a trigger, such as birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas etc. Even certain times of the day can do it, it took me ages to stop watching the clock at around 6.30 pm each evening, silly I know, but I would often go out to avoid that time of day, all we can do is to remember them with love and affection.

You mentioned the skilled engineering and civil work of the canals when they were built, it is even more amazing when you consider they were all dug out by hand with shovels, there was no mechanical assitance in those days. Most of the labour was done by Irish labourers as they were cheap and available and they were called 'navigators' as they navigated their way through the landscape, this was shortened to 'Navvy' a common term still used today for a labourer. The bricklaying alone is a work of art and even after a few hundred years it is still in amazingly good condition, you have to admire the skill of canal builders like Thomas Telford and James Brindley they rank alongside other greats such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Can't even wrap my mind around the amount of work that would have gone on and the skill required to build such phenomenal locks. Those labourers definitely did a good job.

I wondered what the boats where doing re: motors. Lots of the little boats here (and I'm talking the couple of meter long fishing boats and canoes) they commonly have electric motors now and are touted for their quietness.

These motors (granted these ones are large but they're the only ones I have a picture of) are terribly LOUD and can definitely break the peaceful tranquility of a remote lake.

[Horus]

Those are some mighty powerful outboards LLL

[Grandad]

Another really nice piece of video editing H. It all runs so smooth and I am still intrigued with your 'steady cam' left hand. Or do you multi task and hold both the camera AND the lead in your right? And your transitions are seamless, I have a long way to go.

We have visited that canal at Stone. Would that be east of where you were, I don't have any picture showing a lock number When the double locks are both working, am I right that they can then handle traffic in both directions? Clever people these canal designers Also clever (but very simple) how they arranged the path for the horses to walk around the lock

Canals are great, long may they survive and be maintained.......

[Horus]

You give me too much credit Grandad, the transitions are seamless because it takes me ages to do them.

As for holding the camera steady (with my right hand) and holding onto Annie’s lead (with my left), now that is hard work, I shot this latest one using my X-S1 to see if the video was any better. The problem was that it is very much heavier to hold one handed as it has little or no plastic in it and the body is machined from solid alloy, add to that the 19 element glass lens and it is really heavy. When off the lead Annie is quite well behaved, but on the lead she will lag behind then run past you on the wrong side to catch up again, I can now pirouette better than a ballet dancer.

We have visited that canal at Stone. Would that be east of where you were, I don't have any picture showing a lock number

Stone would be more like SSE of where I was walking Grandad.

When the double locks are both working, am I right that they can then handle traffic in both directions?

Yes that’s right, both locks can be used, the protocol being that if two boats arrive at the same time, then the state of the lock determines who goes first. If a boat were to approach a full lock they would take precedence over a boat waiting below the lock and vice versa.

Also clever (but very simple) how they arranged the path for the horses to walk around the lock

There are some ingenious bridges over the canal where the towpath changes from one side to the other. Believe it or not they can take a horse over to the other side while still pulling the boat and without uncoupling the horse. I have some photographs I have taken somewhere, I must dig them out.

Edit: here are some of them

[Grandad]

Credit where it is due H And I think the video quality is better with the Fuji although the little Nikon was not at all bad.

My grandson asked if he could have my fathers standard 8mm video projector that he knew I still had in my loft (I had sold the camera on ebay long time ago). He is getting into retro although his degree was all high tech digital. Film making has certainly come a long way.

[Horus]

I still have my 'Sanyo' super 8 cine camera and the projector up in my loft along with all the paraphernalia that goes with it for splicing and editing, who knows, one day it may be worth a few quid.

[Grandad]

I have probably mentioned that my Dad took video mostly of their grandchildren around the sixties. I had all the films transferred to DVD so that our three have copies. This was only standard8 so a very small frame but it is still surprisingly good to view on a large screen TV. Good old fine grain Kodak

[Horus]

That is something I wanted to do with some of my old stuff from Africa and some footage from the USA, was it very expensive Grandad?

[Kiya]

And I still have my Kodak instamatic so simple to use

[Horus]

Hang on to it Kiya it may be worth a few bob

[Grandad]

That is something I wanted to do with some of my old stuff from Africa and some footage from the USA, was it very expensive Grandad?

I just dug out my copy and to my surprise the invoice was still inside the DVD case. I never throw anything away

I used Alivestudios.co.uk and the invoice is dated 3 July 2009. I edited my dads film to take out any duff stuff and ended up with 2 x large reels, probably 200ft each. The converted DVD runs for 25 minutes and is a succession of clips of all members of the family over a period of about 10 years or so. Alive added a very nice and appropriate sound track to the silent movies.

I emailed a cover picture that I created as a collage from a number of photos to include all family members. They used this to design a nice cover with my title.

This is my collage


The invoice was for £80 including postage and an additional copy DVD. I then made more copies, the original is not copy protected. They are still in business but prices are now higher at £55 per 15 minutes.

[Jayway]

Very interesting. Part 2, before the first stile did I see ragwort ? I nearly lost a horse to that. When I was small, we were told to get off and pull it up and stuff it in the hedge out of reach. Loved the graveyard, has it many epitaphs? Used to collect them as a child, those I-Spy books made me nosy for everything ! The Canal, would like to see the canal roundabout, could a horse still follow the route ? I am now quite tired after all that walking - - - -

[Horus]

@ Jay, if you mean part 2 of the 1st video (there is a second seperate video also posted on here) then the answer is 'yes' it is Ragwort. In part 1 of that video you will also see loads of it along the field edges and I know it is very dangerous to horses and cattle if they eat it.
The churchyard is quite old and has inscriptions from 1750 in it, I will take a short video sometime of it for you.
The canals were originally desingned to allow horses to walk along pulling the barges, hence the name 'towpath'. As to riding a horse along the canal towpaths, I suppose that the short answer would be 'no' mainly because they are not designated bridleways. Most if not all are only designated as footpaths and cycling is only allowed with a permit and although it would not be impractical to do so once the horse was actually on the towpath, it would probably be quite dangerous. You would need to dismount to pass under most bridges and passing a deep lock full of water or even worse if it was empty could be a disaster if the horse was spooked or shied and threw the rider, or fell into the lock itself. You also have obstructions such as pedestrians and loose dogs trotting to and fro, plus ropes tied to stakes driven into the towpath to secure barges and all on the same narrow path, I also think it would be against the local bye laws.

@ Grandad, thanks for the info

[Horus]

Here is part 2 of my canal walk with Annie

phpBB [video]

[LovelyLadyLux]

Interesting walk H. Wish you've of seen a Kingfisher I love them. They're super interesting birds.

The Pride of York was quite a nice looking boat and I enjoyed seeing the two boats passing each other. Must say the horse looked absolutely terrified by Annie's barking (Yawn)

The bridge you crossed to the Pub is quite a classic style to me and again, to me, seems to really represent England

Does Annie get to choose off the menu or does she read the Board? I see she takes the ham quite nicely too right form the start. That is really nice. My old guy would often snap if you didn't tell him first "nicely" and sometimes I had to be prepared to hold the food back and offer it again if he wasn't warned first not to grab. He then would take it nicely but his tendency was, if not warned, to snap it or grab it. Guess that is why Annie is a lady

[Horus]

You have to be very lucky to spot a Kingfisher LLL, they are very shy and you usually just catch a fleeting glimpse of them. To actually get some photo's or video you need to stake the place out and set up a hide, not very practical with Annie
Like you say that type of bridge is typical of most canal bridges and where they cross over near a village you often find a nice little pub
As you have noticed Annie is very well mannered and does not snap at any food offered her, for a small dog she has a really large set of teeth and powerful jaws and could inflict a nasty bite if she wanted to. She can destroy one of those large hide bones in very short order and her toys have to be very tough to survive, but she is very gentle when playing or taking food although she does get carried away when play fighting with me. She is no shrinking violet and at home will look to pick a fight with me, she sits and looks at me from the corner of her eye and waits for me to insult her I usually just look at her and say the word "git" and she springs into the attack. First she head butts me really hard, then jumps at me with her front paws raised and then mock bites my hand or arm. She will continue doing this for as long as I keep pushing her away and calling her a "git"my daughter finds it hilarious and says she has never seen a dog that takes offence at an insult before.

But on a more serious point, most animals that have had to fight for their food or are afraid it will be taken away are often possesive of it and will either snap at people who come near it or snatch food from your hand. It is essential when training a puppy that they know that you will not take their food away by handling their food bowl while they eat and of course training them to take offered food gently from your fingers.

[Grandad]

I enjoyed that one H, very nicely filmed and edited

You seem to be a country boy at heart, who would know all those wild plants, certainly not me. And I don't think Annie is just having a frequent 'wee', she is marking her territory.

I am so pleased that there are still some family and dog friendly pubs around Too much of this hygiene stuff around for me. And a pint of Marstons must have gone down well after that long walk. My bro was a fireman in Burton and knew all the breweries well......good old Trent water.