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Photos of Wigan
Photos of Wigan



Photo-a-Day Archive
Photo-a-Day Archive

Photo-a-Day  (Monday, 1st May, 2023)

Chippy Dinner


Chippy Dinner
Chippy Dinner on a Canal Boat.

Photo: Mick Byrne  (Panasonic DMC-TZ100)
Views: 1,993

Comment by: Alan (on Vancouver Island) on 1st May 2023 at 04:43

I am an ocean sailing yachtsman, and I would love to line up alongside !

Comment by: Arthur on 1st May 2023 at 07:20

Privacy Mick tu tu.

Comment by: Garry on 1st May 2023 at 07:43

Chippy tea and a glass of sherry on a boat cruise, sounds great.

Comment by: Sandra on 1st May 2023 at 08:38

I love it.
It's nice to see old barges converted into another life and this one looks a great idea.

Comment by: Maureen on 1st May 2023 at 10:43

We once spent a week on a boat on the Thames,I loved every minute..if someone gave me an option to live on one now instead of a house,it would definitely be the boat.

Comment by: Tom on 1st May 2023 at 11:08

Do they have a chip fryer on board ?

Comment by: The Bargee on 1st May 2023 at 13:05

We get our chippy dinners from the Wallgate chippy

Comment by: Linma on 1st May 2023 at 13:06

A few years ago some friends were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and what a night we all had on a boat travelling along the canal at the side of Botany Bay in Chorley.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 1st May 2023 at 13:17

Sandra - it's a new-build, not a conversion from an old barge.
Maureen - it's okay if you're moored up permanently in a marina, where there'll be electricity, wifi, showers and toilets for you to use - but it's a bit different if you're out on the canal. You can only stay in one place for 14 days, and you have to move about to find somewhere to take on water, or empty your loo - not always easy if the canal ices over.... I've been narrow boating for 40 years, and it's really just a superior form of camping - with the added advantage of not having to walk home from the pub.
But back to the picture - it's good to see that the kittiwakes, or some of their cousins, have left their mark on the boat....

Comment by: Sandra on 1st May 2023 at 13:41

Thank you RevDavid Long, great education.

Comment by: Joanne on 1st May 2023 at 14:26

I think the boat’s name ‘Kittywake’ is spelt with the ‘y’ rather than an ‘i’ in honour of Mrs Kitty Isherwood:

“Thomas Isherwood JP was Mayor of Wigan Borough between 1983-1984. He was married to Mrs Kitty Isherwood who served as Mayoress in 1983-1984.

“Kitty Isherwood was awarded five medals for her service during the Second World War in caring for soldiers and casualties in North Africa and Italy, including Queen Alexandra's medal. Tom and Kitty met whilst she was sister in charge of the Ministry of Pensions Hospital in Worcester, after he was injured during active service with the Royal Artillery. They married in 1952 and Kitty Isherwood continued to work as a nurse at Wigan Infirmary She died in 1997.”

From: https://archives.wigan.gov.uk/archive/civic-histories/civic-hindley/isherwood-thomas

Comment by: Maureen on 1st May 2023 at 15:03

Rev,I know the pitfalls of living on a boat can be rough but it wouldn't change my mind..I remember the first day of our hols on the Thames..my Dad asked a woman on the boat behind us if she would take a photo of us Mam Dad and children,he asked if she was looking forward to the week ahead..she replied " No I've just told my hubby to cancel it all and take me and the children home,I'm not used to all this roughing it, ablutions and everything else, she had three boys and they looked they could cry..I've never forgot how selfish she was...if you live on a boat it's a whole new way of life. but it's all worth it..to me anyway.the feeling of freedom makes up for any conveniences.

Comment by: Rev David Long on 1st May 2023 at 16:01

Maureen - I know the saying is 'Don't knock it until you've tried it' - but it might as well also be 'Don't praise it until you've tried it'. I love being out on our boat - but I've seen enough live-aboards to know it's no bed of roses. Families didn't start living afloat on working boats until it became economically necessary with the competition from the railways - and most live-aboards now live afloat because they have been priced out of the housing market.
Joanne - that would be a nice thought, if it's so. Unfortunately there's not a lot online about the boat's history. There's a pic of it in the Album from 1985, at Trencherfield Mill - so it would fit with her being Mayoress in 83-4. Perhaps Ron has a newspaper cutting about it all....

Comment by: Harold on 1st May 2023 at 18:41

You would think somebody would have cleaned the bird muck marks off before they set sail, with it being a floating cafe.

Comment by: Sir Bob on 1st May 2023 at 18:52

If the name of that boat was split into two, because it looks like it is named after a Cat's Wake, so if it was Kitty Wake and then you applied a Spoonerism to it, and joined the two words back together, then the boat would be called Wittykake.

Comment by: Irene Roberts on 1st May 2023 at 20:17

Maureen, I have to say it wouldn't suit me, as it didn't suit the lady you saw. You are either the "camper" sort or you're not, but I wouldn't have spoiled my children's holiday and would have persevered for the rest of the holiday if it made them happy....she WAS "selfish" if she cut the holiday short but I can see her point of view. We have had a few "touring" caravans and I detested them, even the last one, which was brand-new and was on a permanent site....it's either "you" or it isn't. We now have a static caravan on the same site .....it is an old one and is old-fashioned, with only a couple of years to go, but is more of a "little house" with a proper flush toilet and I am relaxed there. My husband loved the touring caravans, as MANY people do, but you have to be of the right frame of mind for a tourer OR a boat, and I'm afraid I'm not! A holiday is only a holiday if you are enjoying it, otherwise it's a trial.

Comment by: Ex caravan er. on 2nd May 2023 at 03:08

Many new touring caravans have flush toilets and are connected to pipe waste outlets on modern camp sites. But yes I understand and agree you like camping or you don't and boating is the same.
Static caravans could get boring after a few years being on the same site and have seen it all.
The Rev sums it up perfectly, don't knock it until you've tried it, well I have tried it and have knocked it. Not for me and my family agreed. We now have caravan holidays at different sites like Haven or other well known breaks with lots going on. Touring caravan can be a nightmare this day and age with traffic chaos and kids stuck in the car for hours at a time. It gets very frustrating. So we don't own our caravan anymore, we hire one at different sites, that way we dont have the annoyance of parking it up for storage and the maintenence of it.

Comment by: Maureen on 3rd May 2023 at 11:22

Sorry folks,but I would find being stuck in a caravan far too restricting...I love freedom too much.

Comment by: Elizabeth on 3rd May 2023 at 17:09

Joanne,Mrs Kitty Isherwood used to live quite near to where I live,I believe she was born in Ireland.

Comment by: Maureen on 3rd May 2023 at 21:20

Rev,I think I ought to say ..if you'd seen our boat it wouldn't be classed as camping.

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