Canal Journal Entries

3 creative works found

• Everything
• Images
• T-Shirts
• Writing
• Journals

• Viking Longboats
  by Simon Mears

  well i wish they were but i was as astounded as if they had of been. Today i was driving to court for a hearing and i was early, as i had…

  well i wish they were but i was as astounded as if they had of been. Today i was driving to court for a hearing and i was early, as i had to take some pictiures on a site visit, and, well between Leicester and Market Harborough there is some beeutoful countryside through which runs the Grand Union canal. There is a place called Foxton Locks which is an amazing run of 20 or so locks in close order, one after hte other, allowing canal barges to pass up and down the canal. I have the odd pic in my portfolio. Anyhow i went walking on the other side of the canal, a new route, and i came across two barges stacked one against the other, out of the water in the grass, decaying and rusting and all the things we love!! What a find.. who put them there? Anyhow, i’m putting some pics on here later on.. hope you like ‘em, i remember thinking that i have lucked out, that feeling we all get when you turn the corner and you see what you are looking for. Even the sun stepped out of the way for me, shortening my shadow so i was able to get close. Hope you like them. Simon

• Falling into the Grand Canal and falling in love with Venice.
  by chasingsooz

  For the longest time I dreamed of a succulent wild adventure in Italy. In April 2008 that dream became an comic reality when I accidental…

  For the longest time I dreamed of a succulent wild adventure in Italy. In April 2008 that dream became an comic reality when I accidentally fell into the Grand Canal in Venice! Yes .. I slipped and fell into the Grand Canal wearing my best woolen coat, David Jones skirt and new boots. When my mother-in-law phoned home to check how my trip was going and the family reported receiving a text message on the “canal incident”, she thought they were joking. After all, millions of people visit Venice every year and hardly anybody ever falls in. Well, my only defense is that it was going on dusk and I was taking photos of the gondola silhouettes. The water had risen during the day, covering the marble steps that I edged closer to as I crouched low to take a shot. Not thinking (I rarely ever think) I found crouching didn’t get me low enough and as it had been raining, i didn’t want to dirty my skirt by lying on the ground. So I took a tentative step down towards the water. Still not low enough (as now I couldn’t crouch because the water was licking my skirt, I tentatively moved to the next marble step that was partially covered in water. Then I some how skidded a bit, stumbled a bit, landed on the third slippery siimey moss covered under water step a bit and WHOOSH I was on my backside and sliding into the canal – fast. This part is a bit of a blur because somehow I managed to hold my camera above my head with one hand and grab hold of the nearby bridge with the other and to tell you the truth I still don’t know how I got all that dirt under my finger nails. Then I had to drag myself out of the water. When I got onto dry land, I was still holding tight to the end of the bridge because my legs started to shake and I couldn’t move. So instead I crouched over and started to laugh. My best friend Sue (and travel buddy) then came over and asked what was so funny. So between fits of giggles, I told her that I had just fallen into the canal. She said “No you didn’t.” / I said “Yes I did, I fell in! / “No, you’re joking.” / “No, I fell in! Look, feel my undies, they’re soaked and green slimey stuff is sliding down my leg!” So after ascertaining that I indeed had met with a slimey misadventure, Sue started feeling guilty for her earlier grumpiness over me being in her photo. She was trying to take a wider shot of the gondolas with a lovely lamp post in the foreground and my dark figure was comically crouching and hovering near the edge of the water ruining her pictures. So she moved off to another spot. Still gripping the bridge and laughing, Sue hugged me and started to laugh too, Then she asked if I was ok. I said; “I think so, but my ankle hurts a bit.” This was obviously a ploy for sympathy and it worked. After all, I could have easily downed. If not for that wooden bridge, I would have sunk like a stone. So I said I felt like hot chocolate. In Harry Potter, when they have a fright, they always get hot chocolate. Only mine had to be standing up at the bar like the Italian locals do because my undies were dripping and I couldn’t sit down. For some strange reason, this seemed like a sensible idea to both of us. So we laughed all the way to the bar. (My excuse was that I was in shock – perhaps Sue was too?). Then we went up to the hotel room. By this time my ankle was really starting to throb but I had no idea that I was injured. Kind of like when a shark rips off a surfer’s arm and he doesn’t notice till he has finished riding the wave. So we get upstairs, I take off the skirt and there’s blood. I had gashed my knee and it was swelling like a melon. Pulling the boots off, revealed an inflamed ankle wrapped in a plate sized bruise and that was also swelling fast! Luckily I had packed a first aid kit. So we had antiseptic and after Sue’s mad dash back to the bar – a bag full of ice. So we quickly got the injuries under control. My skirt however, was another matter. After the event I tried asking the Italian gentleman at reception if there was a dry cleaners near by. I pointed to my skirt and said that I had fallen into the canal and there was green slime and it needed to be washed. You know after the “canal incident”. As he didn’t speak much English, I mimed hand actions to explain my plight. He was immediately concerned and said “No Senora, no wash clothes in canal.” Then he made a face as if the canal water was dirty. (Like I didn’t already know) And made hand actions of washing and not washing. Then he gave me what I think was a dry cleaner’s brochure but it was in Italian so I didn’t know. Here is the photo taken a few moments before I fell. Notice the wooden bridge to the right, that was what I clung on to. I am so lucky that i didn’t also seriously injure myself with splinters. My friend Sue had since said that we need to work on our communication skills and the next time I am drowning not waiving, it would be better if I didn’t laugh but yelled help instead. (c) sooz2008

• Going Out Anyway
  by Stephen Nickless

  The weather was awful today. Wet and gloomy. Just the type of day to photograph the Victorian canals that criss cross Birmingham. I aske…

  The weather was awful today. Wet and gloomy. Just the type of day to photograph the Victorian canals that criss cross Birmingham. I asked my son Peter to accompany me and I took some photographs while he took some video. The lighting lent itself to the atmosphere of the bridges and tunnels we were walking. There were a few hardy souls out walking and cycling, but not too many. I hope you like the pictures. We’re going to dry out now.