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Most of you will have read the topic about the Wolverhampton pollution, well today the horror extended. Dear all, What I have witnessed today at Hollybank basin and Lane Head is beyond reasonable belief. The EA have worked through the weekend attempting to oxygenate the waterway and save what life may be there. However there are a few problems. Despite being told the Wyrley had stop planks in, why was the water still flowing west to east? The pollution is now heading towards Sneyd! Beacuse NO stop planks have been put in!! BW has told us a lie. In its wake fish are migrating but the flow needs to be stopped. Hollybank basin was considered to be a refuge for fish, off the main canal. Today the sight there was horrifying, tens of thousands of fish gasping for air. it looked like rain on the water until you got close, this was a heartbreaking scene, "I for one will never forget the majestic pike, the "killer elite" of fish sitting amongst its natural prey - just waiting to die, its life was over just like the leaf floating aside it". No one was doing anything to save these animals. I went back to Lane Head and begged the EA guys to arrange a fish rescue, "we cant do that" was the reply. Then a lady member of EA cam on site and the situation was explained to her, she made some calls and told me nothing could be arranged today. She also quietly said "I dont care how much you want to rubbish us or say we could have done more" - She admitted they could have acted better, faster and been more effective! Hearing this I phoned two friends Sue Williams and Vaughan Welch and asked them to call as many people as they could find to get a fish rescue on Hollybank. Eventually a call came from the RSPCA who will try and do something tommorow, however even with the BW aerators going all night I doubt much will be alive tomorrow. The local residenst were out with some helping to move larger fish to the aerators in the hope that they may revive, it seemed local people have more sense than the professionals who just stood and watched. Further afield there is another report of a dead swan (not confirmed), also dead birds being seen and at Wednesfield the swan family is still missing a cygnet. Locals were providing water and food, but they need moving away from the canal. I have rescued some fish myself but have noted that despite being put into well oxygenated water some have died within a short space of time, is this an indication of poisoning? It is hoped tomorrow will see independant testing of the water to confirm what is in it, there is a suspicion that the EA are not sending out the whole picture and if that is the case is there more risk out there than we know of? Who ever started the fire started a chain reaction, that reaction could have been minimized by the EA and only the Ettingshall to Wolverhampton water, some three miles would have been affected. However they seem to have failed to grasp the seriousness of the pollution Likewise British Waterways could have done more, without question the stop planks should have been inserted to stop the pollution entering the Wyrley and Essington canal. every narrows and bridge has grooves for stop planks, this is inexcusable. We now have some 11 miles of seriously polluted canal, destroying some of the best regarded fishery in the country, we are still seeing this get worse - why? The answer is simple in my opinion, bad assesment and management by the EA, lack of awareness by BW. When I walked away from Hollybank tonight it was getting dark, the frantic movement of the waters was no more except for the pumps, I expect most of what was alive had slipped away, I have known the basin since I was a boy, it was always a nice place to fish ........ but in this age of technology ..... all this "caring for the enviroment" ..... All these clever people with their clever systems, control centres, managers, blackberrys, hi viz jackets, testing equipment and meters, ... if I hand them the dead pike tomorrow will they have the knowledge & technology to make it alive again? Laurence Hogg

Our dutch barge has been heavily overplated (the original hull is 101 years old this year). It does bring possible problems, but there are loads of commercial boats out there that are the same. It is possible to carefully drill the inner skin, tap a thread, and add a grease nipple through which you can add waxoyl or whatever, but to be honest I agree with the other poster here - go and enjoy it! Other things will go wrong that will occupy your time, I promise! Most boats dies as they rust from the inside out not the other way round. If the survey pronounced the overplating good then you should be OK but make sure you look carefully at the welding and especially that they have used stitching welds in the centres of the plates, to hold them, not just "edge" welds. Good boating

It's because Ecofans are a bit of a paradox. They can't work yet they do. The first time I saw one sitting on a warm stove spinning merrily away I assumed it was hard-wired to a power supply. On closer investigation I was it was not, so WHERE was the motive power coming from? Obviously it was some sort of battery or, possibly, the principle of a heat cell I was aware of but had never seen actually executed. Then I figure out it IS a heat cell. Wow! And it all snaps into focus. I WANT ONE. NOW! They really do seem to improve the heat distribution through a long thin boat. I definitely missed mine when it fell off and bent the motor shaft. The paradox is that they don't really shift much air so I cannot see a technical explanation for the improved comfort level they create. I use smoke pens for flue testing and a smoke pen creates a little trail of smoke like from a cigarette or incense stick. Put it in front of an Ecofan and the smoke trail shows a sideways airpath from the fan which rapidly peters out, changing from horizontal to fully vertical in about a couple of feet away from the fan. I can't see how this help with heat distribution, but it does. The best thing about the Ecofan though is the way it calmly and unobtrusively rattles as it spins gently on the fire. Almost as comforting a sound as a grandfather clock ticking away. In particular as the fires dies low, the slowing Ecofan makes you aware of this sooner than you feel the cold. Same in reverse. If the fire is roaring inside faster than you thought, the fan rattles harder. Almost as though it is talking to you. I would never be without mine, even though I know they don't work. Except they do. And no I don't sell them. Mike (ETA I have two, two-bladed ones Cherts.)

If that were the case how come you never stop whinging about BW and now the new lot. If NABO were capable of getting things changed why on Earth didn't they use their "clout" to change all the things they moan about? "Crap name, crap logo, same old fat cats, losing volunteers on K&A, no support for new charity, inadequate maintenance, not shifting overstayers, questionable legality of mooring restrictions etc, etc..."all recent whinges by you and NABO. What have any of the waterways talking shops done to bring about change, for any of these issues? Bugger all!!

I once in my old boat Patience set it on dead slow ahead went below with a girl friend and had n-----,while the boat ricochet,d its way northbound on its own through the Harecastle tunnel.

Hi Tim, I havent at the minute but their are quite a few images on their website of the same sort of thing, if this weather keeps up i'll be out on it over the weekend and post some images

It was a Bal adhesive, with a Bal additive added that was recommended by, and sold by Topps - it wasn't cheap, believe me. Topps have now given me another Bal adhesive, and a sealer - this after discussion by them with Bal technical department. But as the replacement adhesive says it's for floor tiles, and doesn't mention wall tiles, I'm cynical. My gut feel is to not try again with another conventional powdered water-mix adhesive, as I can't face another failure. I assumed references to Evostick were for the normal adhesive that is a glue sniffers paradise. If anyone actually means an Evostick tiling product, and hasn't specifically said so, then please clarify!

I followed the directions on the products I used, and they did not include priming a porous surface before applying the tile cement. The cement has stuck limpet-like to the Masterboard, but not the tiles. I suppose it's possible the porosity of the Masterboard drew too much water from the cement, making it less likely to adhere to the tiles ? I have toyed with Jenlyn's Evostick idea, (I like Evostick). I'm tempted to just level up the still adhering cement, and try straight gluing on to that. I don't find many things glued with Evostick ever break loose, but I admit I have never tried it in cases that get really hot.