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November 2006

December 2006 >

Monday 27 November

The Ultimate Stocking Filler.  That's the heading for the Cotswold Canals Trust's E-newsletter issued today and recommending our Cotswold Canals DVD.

The Cotswold Canals Trusts quarterly magazine has just been published with a review and the letters have started to arrive placing orders as well.

Thank you to the Cotswold Canals Trust.

Thursday 23 November

Good news today.  After an unexpected gap at work I was able to visit Fenny Compton to see the work which had been carried out on our hull over the last few days.

The front edge to the front cockpit has been reshaped so there is now room for two people to sit side by side on the seat as originally planned.  There will be a false inside edge to allow a little greater depth to the seat so we can sit comfortably side by side.  It's left an unusual shape but that will hardly show once the cratch is in place.

Front Cockpit

Before alterations (left)

After alterations (right)
 

At the stern, the panel for the controls has been recessed. As originally built anyone walking in and out of the stern was likely to catch on the engine control lever but this will be less likely now.

Control Panel

Before alterations (left)

After alterations (right)

Tuesday 21 November

The Cotswold Canals Trust has asked for a second batch of DVDs already, as the first batch have been selling well.  I'm pleased they wanted the second batch so soon.

And some good news on the building of our boat.  An email from the builders said it will be going into the dock tomorrow to start work on the hull again.

Now I'm holding my breath to see what Sue's sensational news is on No Problem.

Friday 17 November

I'm letting the Cotswold Canals Trust have 20 copies of the Cotswold Canals DVD on sale or return (and 4 copies of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal DVD).

Yesterday I took them up on the train to Gloucester where David and Julia Pagett from the Cotswold Canals Trust kindly invited me into their home and plied me with coffee and offers of biscuits etc.  We talked about the work of the Trust and of their own canal experiences.

The Trust is planning to sell the DVDs at weekends at their road shows and at the Heritage Centre at Saul Junction where they will also be running their Santa Cruises in December.

We were all wondering how popular they would be.  This evening I got an email from David to say they had sold 3 already, before the weekend.  The score is 2 - 1 to Julia - well done to both of them.

Sunday 12 November

It's in the post. We promised on our website that the Cotswold Canals DVD would be ready for week commencing 13 November and we've kept that promise.

Advance orders are now in their jiffy bags and will be in the post tomorrow, right at the start of the week we promised.

Now I just need to get the 20 copies to the Cotswold Canals Trust (CCT) for their Christmas sales at Saul Junction Heritage Centre and at their road shows.

A big thank you to everyone who helped in the production of the Cotswold Canals DVD.

After a short break we will start editing the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals DVD which we filmed during the summer.

Sunday 5 November

The editing of the Cotswold Canals DVD is now complete, except for tidying up the menus.

We are on target to have them copied for dispatch during week commencing 13 November as we have promised.

The Cotswold Canals Trust (CCT) have mentioned the DVD in their latest electronic newsletter and it will be reviewed in the next edition of The Trow, their newsletter.  They will also be selling it at their Heritage Centre at Saul Junction and at their road shows.  Thank you to the CCT.

Thursday 2 November

The last of the feedback is arriving from the proof watchers of the draft Cotswold Canals DVD.  The watchers put in a lot of work and the feedback was good. They generally thought it was pitched about right for the intended audience - those with some interest in canals but not too full of details.

Between them, the proof watchers, picked up several details which were wrong and these will be corrected over the next few days.  There were also comments where we hadn't quite got the pronunciation of local names right.

We will make the final edit of the video in the next few days and then the copies will be made.  Orders can already be placed on our website and we have promised to fulfil orders already placed during week commencing 13 November and we are on target to make that date.  We will be making a donation of £1 per copy sold during 2006 to the Cotswold Canals Trust.

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