Winter Warmers

Cherries aren’t cheap...but Helen Tidy found a surprising way to beat the cold

- Helen Tidy

Boating in the chilly depths of January can present us with one or two issues – but keeping warm inside is never a problem. Like many boats we have a wood burning stove that churns out enough heat for us to keep the whole boat toasty and then some. In fact, it is not at all uncommon for us to have windows flung wide to regulate the heat a little. Our red enamel Lilyking stove is a little large for our 42ft narrowboat, but it is a thing of great beauty and we love it. Friends were changing the layout of their narrowboat a few years ago and looking for a quick sale. We were in desperate need of a new stove as the back of our old one had recently fallen off resulting in flames shooting out of its back. Funnily enough, once that had happened we were less than keen to use it again so snapped up our friends’ one in double-quick time!

However, while it is excellent at keeping us warm inside, our beautiful stove cannot control the temperature outside. Chilly days standing at the tiller are not something either of us particularly enjoy so crafty ways of keeping warm have been at the forefront of my mind.