Hi everyone.
Welcome aboard the narrowboat “Emma Maye” The Wool Boat the floating place for a wide range of wool and yarns for hand knitting and crochet and contemporary hand knitted garments created by Carole.
We are Colin and Carole Wareing who live and work from Emma Maye as we travel the inland waterways of England and Wales.
A while ago we where both in a position to “retire” from our careers.
Carole was a leading maths teacher in a secondary school in Skelmersdale.
Colin had worked in manufacturing until being made redundant and was then working in the van hire industry.
We have both being interested in the canals for years, starting into boating the way most people do, by hiring for holidays. We have now been boat owners for over a decade.
The retirement plan was to cruise the summers away, and travel further a field during the winters which we did for a couple of years. We explored down to London along the Grand Union canal and into Wales on the Llangollen canal. We visited Morocco, America and Cuba and still have plenty more places we want to travel to.
While this is a great way of spending your time we both felt the creativity in us that had been held in check while we did the “day” jobs should be let free and see where it would take us, so Colin and Carole’s Creations was born.
We are based in Burscough in West Lancashire, both having been settled in the village for a number of years, though originally Carole is from Mawdesley and Colin from Banks, both villages with in five miles of Burscough.
Beyond our passions for canals, knitting, photography, travel and reading we support Southport football club, trying to get to as many games as possible.
We are also supporters of the red wine industry and real ale breweries, seeking out the local craft brewers being quite prepared to walk out of a pub that has no cask ale on a hand pump.
The Canal and River Trust are the main organization which maintains and promotes the canals that we cruise, for lot’s of canal information please go to Waterscape, the CaRT. website.
We like as much as possible to deal face to face with our customers, of which many become friends, and we do this by bringing our floating studio and shop to a canal near you. However if this is not possible we will do our utmost to provide you with your needs in any other way practical.
Within our web pages you will find details of what we create, what we can supply for you and where you can find us. We have a winter mooring near Burscough in West Lancashire which is where we call “home” but during the summer we will be traveling the canals of England and Wales so we could be anywhere on the 2500 miles of system.
Hopefully we will welcome you aboard soon, wool, yarn and knitwear are better seen and felt in real life!