Another year is drawing to a close with Christmas fast approaching.
The season of goodwill and people who you may not have contacted all year are brought to your mind again.
On the cut the feeling of goodwill and seeing friends occurs all of the year and life has a different order.
With time to chat and renew friendships is afforded to us fortunate boaters who have been blessed with life at a much slower pace.
I remember in my early days of boating arriving home from a trip and walking down my local street saying hello to anyone I saw!

The cooler days have arrived and sitting in front of a lovely warm fire is very appealing.
Do remember to keep a check on the plate in the top of your fire box.
Soot can build up here and cause a blockage of the flue leading to carbon monoxide entering the cabin.
Please refer to your stoves manual for advice or ask your engineer.

Enjoy those cosy evenings in front of a lovely warm stove and savour the colourful autumn cruising.

“Ownashare Cruising Ltd have recently invited their customers to elect a new Customer Representative who, as part of the role, will take a seat on the Company Board.

The process was necessary as the previous Representative, Tony Philpott, stepped down in August having served since 2011, and his replacement is named as David Chinn.

The Caledonian Canal, engineered by Thomas Telford, was built between 1803 and 1822, linking Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east along the Great Gen. It comprises 22 miles of excavated canal and 38 miles of loch – Lochs Locky, Oich, Ness and Dochfour. It was sized to enable 32-gun frigates to cross the country while avoiding the hazards of the Pentland Firth and the North Atlantic.

Ownashare owners have just elected the new owner to sit on the board.
It is with sadness that our current owner steps down after his two year tenure and I would like to thank him on behalf of everyone for his assistance and guidance throughout this time.
We have been very fortunate in having two owners willing to undertake this role, from all of the owners and the Ownashare team I would like to offer our grateful thanks.
The successful candidate will be writing a short letter to all of the owners in the near future.

Summer 2014

Ownashare are pleased to announce the opening of a share shop at Fradley Junction DE13 7DN on the Trent and Mersey canal.

On Saturday the 4th of July Annual representative consultation meeting was held at Great Haywood.

The cruising season is in full swing.
Our canals remain a haven of England of yester year.
People have time to chat and the schedules of our week are downsized to a former era.
When our trip of 70 miles is planned to be achieved in a week or more....
If we venture onto the bank we marvel at the speed of the traffic!
During those times when we need to stop and wait why not enjoy the novelty of meeting new people and chatting about our love of the canals.

Summer has officially arrived.
With it the prospect of long summer cruising hours and the planning of our main holidays.
The canals offer a respite from our busy frantic lives.
Just cruising at between 2 and 4 miles per hour enables us all to enjoy the beauty of nature.
We can stop and listen to the bird song.
Just notice flora and fauna that eludes us during our normal lives.
The ebb and flow of the day can be appreciated.
The canals give us back our connection with the natural world and helps to calm our minds and sooth our souls.
Enjoy!

What a fantastic start to the summer.

Ownashare joined the three other management companies in running a joint Boat Share Show at Braunston over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of April.

The event was well attended and Ownashare owners and staff greatly enjoyed welcoming prospective owners aboard 4 of our syndicate owned boats during the weekend.

It is always a great pleasure to meet up with our syndicate owners and enjoy some fun and laughter, even during the out of show hours.

April has arrived and the land is fast awakening and the boaters are now out enjoying the spring.

Now is the time to dust off the boating clothes and the walking boots and make a bee line for the nearest towpath.

Even if you are unable to take a boat out the peace and tranquility is still available on the towpath at no charge.

I do hope you have enjoyed the lovely boating program "Grand canal journeys" with Timothy West and Prunella Scales.

This wonderful program was so true to the canal spirit and was a great antidote to the usual TV documentaries.