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The Wet Web: October 2011

THE canal-cruising Mikron Theatre Company wasn’t even sure it would be performing this year, given its recent funding crisis. Thanks to the generous support of its ongoing Ruby Appeal, however, it is flourishing and is now halfway through its autumn tour.
Its new website is worth revisiting, as it has continued to add new features and has plenty of links to videos and audio recordings as well as its new music shop.

It’s been a busy year for Mikron; not only did it launch a new beer by Castle Rock Brewery, marking the revival of its play Beer Street, but was involved in the successful bid for the People’s Millions by Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre. The Cloth, Culture and Communities project will take place in 2012, with Mikron presenting a Victorian love story centred on the Yorkshire Luddites, written by local Marsden writer Maeve Larkin.

If you fancy joining the company, it will be announcing the auditions for next year towards the end of this year. Sign up to its Facebook page for further announcements. Willingness to join in on the narrowboat is as important as acting ability!

All those costumes must mean a lot of washing, and laundry on the cut has always presented its own problems. For a list of launderettes near the waterways, see UK Canals (www.ukcanals.net), and if you know of any that aren’t listed, then do let the site owner know. Alternatively there is a list published annually by the Aylesbury Canal Society (www.aylesburycanal.org.uk) and updates to the current edition are on its website.

For carrying and storing dirty clothes Seaspace Solutions (www.seaspacesolutions.com) has an attractive laundry bag. It’s partially made of netting to aid ventilation, has a front zipped opening to aid loading and opens at the top to make it easy to tip out.

Washing machines have created problems for a number of bloggers, especially as they are now designed to use cold water; annoying when you have ample hot water and want to conserve power. Various solutions have been reached by Sue at http://noproblem.org.uk in her post Wash Day at Cowley Peachy, in which she recommends variable water-flow taps; by Bruce at http://nbsanity.blogspot.com who, in Hints on Living Aboard, explains that he fills the machine up with hot water through the detergent drawer; and Tom Jones at www.narrowboat-waiouru.co.uk, who discussed likely appliances and received useful comments. Machines by Candy seem popular.

Moving on to drying, the Slimline Airer Plus from Lakeland (www.Lakeland.co.uk) has delighted one narrowboater. It fits her tiny bath, doesn’t take too much room up on the stern deck and is narrow enough to drag inside with all the washing still on if it rains.

The aforementioned Tom, however, has a super solution, picked up from Sue at No Problem (which shows just how useful canal blogs can be). His nifty way of hanging the washing off the side of the boat is pictured here.

Incidentally, Tom and his wife Jan favour an all-mod-cons boat. This winter, while waiting for their boat to be built, they’ll be cruising in Kelly-Louise, much more basically appointed. Drop by his blog to see what they make of the simpler approach.