Me: Can I ask you why do they call it Nob End? Lady: oh don't go there!!
what is up guys?!! um... it's too much isn't it? it's just far too much, it's too early in
the morning - well, it's it's actually about nine o'clock and i'm about to set off to a
curtain factory in bolton because Naeem from trend furnishings has got in touch
with me and he said would you like some new curtains and i looked at my curtains
and i just thought yeah! and look at the state of that that's where i tried to sew it back together
the fabrics are so old now i think they're probably about 40 years old, the same
age as the boat! i'm gonna take... not my boat because the canal - which i'm also going to
explore via my handy guide here the Manchester Bolton and Bury canal - gonna see a little bit
of what it might be like near the centre if we can find any of the remains - and um
yeah because it's mostly unnavigable i'm going to take my pickup and traverse the
highest motorway in england the m62 hit it hit the road this is the m62 it links Leeds and Hull.
And also connects to other towns and cities... such as Bradford... and Wakefield. It's a hundred
and seven miles long and it's quite high up i don't know i can't remember i've only regurgitated
some of what i remember from wikipedia that i just read this morning it's this many
feet high at its highest point at the summit there's not a lot up here but it
it's bloody beautiful i love it it's one of the most picturesque motorways in the country
right that's enough of the motorway footage
this is Naeem of Trend Furnishings, a company that's based within this former cotton mill
complex which when it was first built in the early 1900s was the largest one in the world!
this mill was actually featured on tv as part of a documentary about
fred Dibnah - if you don't know who fred is he's basically an absolute legend in this country,
he was into steam engines he was a steeple jack and just a larger than life character, he just
had a brilliant sense of humour and liked a drink so my plan for this vlog is to later on find his
'Pub of the Week' in Bolton... Back in the factory we've got Naeem showing me around - he's showing
me the machinery everything to do with how we are going to put these curtains together,
to help me choose the right fabric because what i need is something that's gonna be warm
in winter and block out the sunlight and the heat in summer... so we're looking at these um plush
curtains a sort of a velvety feel, this is the lining so i've got to choose the lining as well
but the choice is only white and beige and then this is how you actually measure the curtain - you
go from just below the bar right down to the bottom of well just beyond the bottom of the
window where you want the where you want the curtain to hang and then you measure the track
which is the bar width so going across the window and those measurements then go to the
company that making your curtains (for example trend furnishings!!) it's not this video is not
sponsored at all it's just that i've got some free curtains i'm absolutely buzzing about it and i'm
just taking you through the process here we go measurements are all done and that just has to go
back to Naeem and his team so he can create some magic but what about the colours i hear you ask
well yeah it's really difficult there's so many nice colours available not all of them are going
to suit my needs and i wanted something really happy and bright not nothing too dark and dingy
just looking at a few of the options that i've got here and it's clear to me that with
one that Naeem wants me to pick because it's the biggest swatch that he's cut out look!!
he clearly wants me to go for that one - now let's have a look at a finished piece of curtain this is
it and Naeem's just running me through what the lining looks like when it's all stitched together
but whereas the lining is standard it's pretty much the same colour all round
the colours of the actual curtains is what i need to choose so i left the gang to it and headed off
across Bolton to another location to try and
see if i could find some remnants of the manchester bolton and bury canal
the manchester bolton bury canal (derelict since 1961) was 15 miles long it had
17 locks and was built between 1791 and 1808
the section that we're looking down on is a junction with the right hand side going off into
bolton and the left going to salford in manchester where it linked up with the river Irwell which
connects to the manchester ship canal the area that we are flying up from i.e behind us leads
to Berry sorry Buh-ree is how you pronounce it but the area i'm in right now i'm quite interested in
because yeah i've seen it on the map and i have had a little bit of a giggle..! Can I ask
you why'd they call it 'nob end' oh don't go there... [laughter] all the jokes have already
been done they've probably done it on purpose! Well, we have to get to the bottom of this don't
we... nob end it's now a nature reserve based on what was a waste tip for toxic alkaline waste
from the manufacture of soda crystals -that's a cleaning product that i actually use to clean
the drains on my sink and sometimes with hot water sometimes for a bit of fun with a bit of vinegar
but anyway back to the mystery of why this place is known as nob end... well have you heard the
word promontory? um it means an area of land that sticks out or juts out... into the surrounding
area and there's a secondary meaning which is a bodily part that uh... protrudes! And so as i
film myself walking around the area feeling like a right knob end i at least have to applaud the
silly buggers that came up with the name they got it spot on - and a little look at the history on
this sign this is probably the best way to find out about an area not just relying on wikipedia
and just physically being in this place gazing down the locks trying to wonder what it looked
like before it was derelict and as a special treat up in the air from the drone we can see
this aqueduct is Prestolee aqueduct with four arches built in 1793 across the river Irwell.
i wanted to stay a little bit longer and really have a nice walk along the canals because it
it is, i can recommend it as a great place to explore but i had other things to do... not
shopping in the shopping centre no, in each one of my videos i like to feature a pub of the week
and this time i'm thinking well which one would fred dibnah have favoured
this is pub of the week bolton - it's the fourth oldest pub in the country apparently
and um i can right imagine fred popping in here for a nice pint of brown ale
let's have a little look inside there's so much going on here in terms of history
and some characters in the bar as well that i got talking to look at this we've got all sorts
going on there there's one called flat cap which i tried - of course - and it was a good pint i gotta
say that they also serve all the usual bar snacks including these lovely meat pasties look at that
it's great here for visitors because you could just walk around and just learn about all sorts of
history english medieval history going right back you know the civil war and all this sort of stuff
and you'll see some artifacts you know like these pewter mugs that are some of
the oldest that are surviving and this old piece of timber which according to one of the locals is
from a ship that had been dismantled uh one that would have been built in the 1700s
but in a pub this old what are the toilets like? I tell you what this is definitely not the oldest
part of the pub - because it's lovely! lovely and new and it's the 'petty' or potty - or toilet!
uh i prefer to go alone though most times thanks
that's the earl of the Derby! and before i lost my own head i put down my pint glass and headed
out to explore the town of Bolton further... that was pub of the week! a little gem in the
middle of Bolton! this place deserves a mention if you like your craft beers and your pizza
and there's one more sight that i want to check off before leaving this town
I'm just by the statue of fred dibnah, apparently according to the bloke i was talking to in the pub
who had worked for him he was a real character who liked to drink and um also didn't like to pay
too much because the bloke was saying he did some work for him on a steam engine - pressure testing
it - and never actually got paid - but was a great character according to the bloke I met.
He does, he looks it! right i'm actually editing the video now but
here we are grand reveal of the curtains oh you can see a little bit of them
there i went for mustard that's right guys mustard in the main living area
they look quite smart went for the same colour as i went before for the door curtain
that's really nice and thick actually thicker than the last one
the only thing i've got to watch out for is coal dust getting on it...
and then if we go through to the kitchen i've gone for olive here i just wanted a different colour
in each area really nice thick curtains - i could have got them a little bit longer do you see... i
could have probably measured them a bit better but i'm happy i'm just looking back i mean...
love it just love it! right no curtains in the bathroom... what about in the bedroom - well
guess what i've gone for burnt orange - doesn't quite show up in the light there very well
it's really hard filming curtains you wouldn't have thought well look at that look at the way
it pops out against that blue i just i thought that was going to be a really nice colour
and oranges yellows are happy colors so that's what i want happy colours only please!
i'm not happy with the rain though that can go away
being inducted to the crank it crew this time
we've got the following amazingly talented and gorgeous people we've got isabelle and rob drake
we've got diane and matthew barnes we have adam goswell all as producers
and then we have stephen kellet marjorie sullivan colin strachan and richard and tracy - thank you
all so much for supporting me and my videos through patreon i can't do them without you
cheers guyz and now let's have a look at what's coming up in my next video...
you