Last Saturday we were up with Mary's brother Steve, who had been working in Nottingham and took the opportunity to see Misterton for the first time. As soon as he stepped on board, I gave him a rust scraping device....
Ah, nothing like the gentle chipping of rust from frames in the bilge.
Moored just behind us for the weekend was 'Southcliffe' a Sheffield sized barge. The owner Chris showed us around and the interior was fantastic, very much had the sort of feel we'd like to create on Misterton. Southcliffe, like Misterton, had originally been built as a sailing barge, and was converted to motor in the 1940's. Chris has carefully re-constructed her sailing gear, and they were hoisting the sail for the first time that weekend.
I've read that the barges in this region were based on Viking longships, the Vikings being self-invited visitors to this part of the UK.
It certainly was an inspiring sight, and even in a light breeze, the ropes were straining holding her to the bank.
She looked amazing and it was great to see what hopefully all this hard work could lead to.