Life On The Canals

As part of the Alrewas Canal and Music Festival I have spent 5 whole days on a boat, and I think it is safe to say I can call myself a boater. Although we haven't actually moved anywhere yet, we have still been crashed into twice and developed a hatred for hire boaters.

Ok well let me explain. Me and Jamie have a feature on the radio whereby we play Barge Or No barge. If you have listened then you will know, but if you haven't, then basically it involves Jamie making up Barge names then I have to guess whether it is a really boat or not. so we were in the middle of playing this when a very nice boat sailed past, then reversed, then went forward again, then reversed at a 45 degree angle into the side of our boat, to which we were all thrown from one side to another. Live on air.

On the other hand though, I have really enjoyed my time on the barge, there is a completely different view of life of boaters and other canal users, one of a much more relaxed attitude and one where things just happen when they happen. I think it is a lovely way of looking at life and a brilliant way to organise things. the very nature of the speed boats travel at, and weather and locks and things like that mean that a boat can take as long as it takes to get to a certain destination.

Also people on boats are really friendly. It has taken me about 3 times as long to write this blog as it would do any other, as I have had to stop what I was doing to chat to 2 different people about the boat and the radio and things, but it is really nice for people to be so interested in that type of thing.

So yeah, I really think that boating is the way forward! Relaxed and friendly.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on twitter! @peachy146

Alrewas Canal And Music Festival

So here we are at the end of an absolutely brilliant 5 days of radio, music, beer and community spirit. With regards to the post I wrote last weekend about The Alrewas show, I just wanted to expand on a few points.

There is one thing that always gets me about this village that I live in. There is a great amount of different groups and organisations in the village that do lots of good things for the village. Now it is all very well and good having this, but what makes thing extra special is when they all get together in 1 big event like the Alrewas Show or the Arts Festival or the Canal and Music Festival, each part encorperating a different part of our village heritage: the canals, the arts and the creativity and the agricultural side of the village community, that pays tribute to the fact that the village was once upon a time just a group of farm buildings.

There are plenty of other things that inspire me about this type of event. Just general people trying to make a difference to the world in which they live in, starting with the local community. Not only are there lots of hassles involved with organising these type of events, but they are also very time consuming and require a lot of dedication and commitment from lots of people involved, to the point where people are sleeping in marquees to make sure nobody pinches the beer in the middle of the night!

These type of events inevitably come with their own problems to sort out and with organising so many people together, if one person doesn't pull their weight then the whole thing could have a negative effect on the whole chain of things.

Having organised the radio for this event and others similar, there is so much of it that can prove to be so tricky and time-consuming that to be organising the whole event is a mammoth task in itself!

However, it is the end result that is really something inspiring. If you achieve something as succesful and as memorable as you achieve with these events, not only making people aware of the great things that go on in the village, but also raising so much money for the local community, organisations and groups is an absolutely brilliant thing to have and something that is really good for us to be able to say that we have been part of.

And it is for those reasons that I am proud to say that I am from Alrewas. Community participation and generosity of time, to make things happen for the good of the entire community, that I will miss when I go off to university in September and leave the village.

Thank you for reading:
Follow me on twitter: @peachy146
Follow Alrewas Radio on twitter: @AlrewasRadio
Follow Alrewas Canal And Music Festival on twitter: @alrewasboatfest
Follow Alrewas Arts Festival on twitter: @AlrewasArtsFest

Alrewas Radio Update 27/07/13

Well here we are on the barge on the 4th day of this stint of Alrewas Radio, and everything is going smoothly. At least it was until about 5 minutes ago, when Jamie decided it would be a good idea to remove the power from the internet router and see what that did. Turns out it turns the internet off, freezes the computer and stops the broadcast. Oh dear.

Despite the technical trouble, we are just reflecting on how good the actual quality of the radio, and the quality of the broadcasting is this time round. With the new set up, of micing up each presenter individually, and also using a mixer box with preamps and xlr signals means that we can actually be more focused and comfortable on what we are doing and therefore there is more room for banter in this situation.

The interactions between the presenters on their shows is also a lot better. Everyone is more confident at being on air and that means that they can be relaxed and have more fluent conversations. 

Also the allocation of shows means that there is a more regular and reliable, within reason of people being ill and people having to work of course, but we have done this for 3 runs, so we are starting to establish a balance of the presenters that work really well and flow nicely. 

In retrospect, the one show that has been a bit dodgy has been the decades hour at the end of the day. It hasn't at all been the decades it was supposed to be and has turned more into an "anybody and anything" show. Maybe we should just leave this open as one of those shows, or maybe find somebody else to do it, as opposed to people who have already done a show during the day.

We would really like to know what you think and any suggestions that you have so please let us know, you can email them to alrewasradio@hotmail.co.uk, or you can write on the page or in the group on facebook: www.facebook.com/alrewasradio or you can tweet us @AlrewasRadio

Thank you very much for your continued support and loyalty to your local internet radio station.