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As an attempt at redressing the final post from 'eyesonfreeloaders' - a new member with an obvious agenda and grudge to match - I shall address each point this person so eloquently alluded to on 'The Floating Market' thread before its eventual demise. Although not particularly obvious to those not of these parts, it was, indeed, levelled at yours truly and his long suffering wife, Mrs Doorman. Initially, it was suggested that we don't support roving traders, when in fact I've lost count how much we have spent over the last seven years with canal based traders, many of whom post on this forum and could endorse that fact.We have also spent a sizable chunk of our hard earned pensions in The Audlem Mill, even to the point where we ordered two expensive rag rugs from there, knowing that they were made by a roving trader that moored opposite to us here in Audlem. In doing so, we probably spent far more than had we gone direct to the trader, but felt that we were spreading our business around and supporting both roving traders and The Mill. Following recent shambolic events and revelations, we shall now limit our cash flow to the canal traders and save a fortune in the process. The next and most childish remark was about the alleged 'free car parking' in The Fly car park, that up until this week, we thoroughly enjoyed and were grateful for, given that Chrissie is not brilliant on her feet! Previously, the original licensees of this former iconic tavern, would permit local based and even transient boaters to use this large car park regardless of whether they were customers or not, so maybe we were guilty of naively thinking that this tradition was being upheld. Nevertheless, we read the very polite letter that was left under our wipers, that appealed to us from refraining to use the car park during the busy season and that we were most welcome to return late autumn when things quiten down again. Complying with their request, we relocated our car to The Bridge car park some fifty metres away and in truth, we frequent that friendly pub far more than we used to visit The Fly, especially as since the deplorable Tea Boat fiasco, we haven't set foot in the place. The next rambling mutterings were about land based traders being the salt of the earth and how they have such a loyal customer base and fear not the imperious advent of roving traders steaing their trade. If this were true, then why on earth did the Tea Boat incident occur and why are trading boats actively discouraged from mooring in the pound between locks 12 & 13, adjacent to The Mill and The Fly? A reference was made to me posting anomynously by this person whom entered the thread as; 'eyesonfreeloaders'. It would seem from that statement, that the author was someone who didn't appear to place much thought about their actions, someone perhaps who would stride down the towpath and hurl a string of abusive comments at a roving trader, whilst their family of customers and young children were within earshot. The suggestion "that they have too much time on their hands so must get bored and forget how lucky they are" was a thinly veiled slight at the two of us. One of which has terminal cancer. The other, whom was lucky enough to work over 70 hours a week for twenty years to carve out a business career, to enable him to retire at 54! How fortunate is that? And, simply to alleviate our perceived boredom, helped raise over ten thousand pounds in favour of Cancer Research UK. Lazy pair of sods! And finally, the most pointed statement that enlightened us to those whom were responsible for tying a despicably worded poster on an elderly continuous cruiser's boat, who due to serious illness, wanted to pay CRT his winter mooring fee, simply in order to allow him to moor close to his chosen surgery, here in Audlem, as they were treating him in conjunction with the local hospital, for what could have been a resumption of his previous condition of Leukaemia. Their words; "Anyone who cheats on our inland waterway is stealing from a charity - how low is that?" Well, when it comes to strong words of morality, anyone to places a poster on a sick man's boat that states:- "CHARITY THIEF SOD OFF AND PAY FOR A MOORING SOMEWHER ELSE" without bothering to learn the full facts, are hardly paragons of virtue are they? The rest of the post I will not bore you any further with as it simply implies that we are all taking the p**s in taking CRT for a ride and should pay more in taxes and fees towards the upkeep of not only the canal, but of the country in general. I can assure this anomynous person, that both myself and Chrissie have, and continue to do so, paid more fees and taxes than most. Thank you for taking time out to read this long winded but well meant post. Michael William Christian

NO WAY...would I get an oil anywhere that it could get onto the gunwhales !! I speak.... ...as one who has twice slipped off said gunwhales...and broken ribs !!

Dare I say I think I know where the OP's coming from. I don't care how much someone uses their boat, I know people who don't even have their boat in the water, but they are nonetheless just as enthusiastic about it as I am about mine. But there are people on the cut who don't appear to be empathetic, if that's the right expression, to boats and boating, it's just a means to an end. I'm currently the owner of a boat that for the last four years was used as a liveaboard by a couple that unashamedly used it as cheap accommodation whilst they saved up for a house. I know the boats provenance, it was fitted out by three guys with much care and attention and not a little style, and I've no doubt they would be horrified to see what a few years of neglect had done to her. This boat had come to a point in her life where she needed a sympathetic owner to bring her back to her former glory, but she could so easily have fallen into the hands of another opportunist looking for a cheap alternative to terra firma and that would have been that. So I think you can buy a boat for the "wrong" reason. I don't care to analyse it but boats are different to caravans, cars and houses, they just are.

I keep mentioning this pucker home made filter but every one seems to pooh pooh it. A cut to size strip of the green Scotch scouring pad rolled up and stuffed a tightish fit just inside the drain plug hole of your shower tray will waylay and trap any muck, pubic hair, pooh ect from progressing further towards your fragile pump and entangling it. If you wrap the pad around a length of wire to trap it with a finger loop at the top this filter can be inserted in the drain just below the chromium grid with the wire loop sticking up for quick and easy withdrawal for cleaning.

It's all very Bizarre Phil, & amazing how the people who made such comments, didn't actually take some of their own advice and looked at the titles on the boards, As I think in say 'General Boating' for example it says something about waterWAYS of the WORLD. I could be wrong though.(since joining this forum, I often am) And if they was infact referring to the main CWDF title, then that would also obviously exclude anyone on the Rivers !, it sort of re-enforcing my point about the 'click' or 'Monopoly' the portrayal of some sort of uniqueness some people think they have. To suggest that You can't CC anywhere out side CRT waters, is well, use your own words,The whole thing is ridiculous imo. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just talk about Boats and Boating, without the Point scoring . This should get the rainy, windy weekend of to a good start. Or is there different wether systems outside the CRT areas as well. Still.it takes all sorts. & well dome you Sir Phil.

NOOOOOOOOO!!! It's not summer yet. Please don't start talking about winter - please! We haven't even got the barbeque out yet!

Errr.... No. As all of us have said, LIVING ON A BOAT IS NOT CHEAP. If you don't understand this, feel free to try it for a few months, renting a boat off someone like Escape The Rat Race. http://etrr.co.uk/ You will find among other little trivia that you can't buy bulk packs at the supermarket, because you don't have enough storage space, you pay a fortune for gas, because it comes in steel bottles which you have to lug long distance, not down a pipe, you have to fill a water tank every week, and empty your sewage out at least once a month, all of which costs money at most places. You have to use either diesel at 20p a "unit", or coal or wood at 30p a "unit" to heat the boat in Winter, and carry it from wherever you buy it to the boat. If you have a car, and continuously cruise, you will have major problems with parking, so you will be restricted to pushbike and train, and taxi if what you want to carry won't fit on a bike. I'll say it again. LIVING ON A BOAT IS NOT CHEAP OR EASY no matter what your mates tell you. Of course, it suits many of us, but we weren't just looking for a cheap place to live. You are a troll and I claim my free five bridge passes

There was a post from a new member indeed and it was levelled towards me Mike Christian, whom allegedly hides behind nom de plumes and pseudonyms in order to remain anomynous. Strange that really, as in the past i have never been shy in posting pictures on this forum of our boat with our names emblazoned on the stern. Given the chance and hopefully with the moderator's blessing, I shall reply to that post of which I suspect was composed whilst under the influence of alcohol, or some other halucinary substance, given its content. From within the context of the acidic sentences, there was a certain phrase that suddenly threw light upon a previous unsavoury incident that happened to an elderly boater late last year, whilst moored in Audlem and awaiting a reply from an appeal to CRT on medical grounds, to allow him to pay for winter moorings in the village, even though they were not formerly designated as winter moorings. If the mods will permit me to post as a form of redress and moreover to set the record straight, i shall include photographic evidence that serves to illustrate the kind of issues that boaters are having to deal with in this normally idylic village. I refrained from posting the photograph last year, as the gentleman boater was feeling rather frail, due to his illness and didn't want to cause any fuss. I am pleased to say that he is a 'tough old geezer' and now hopefully back on his feet. Michael William Christian 5' 7", bald with an olive complexion, scar on right cheek, bandy legs and an insufferable ability to smile against all adversity.

On the other hand I sent a PM to Daniel expressing concerns that killing the previous thread, particularly if it is as result of "local" pressure being applied, doesn't allow an informed debate about what has gone on. Dan has confirmed that he is still happy that I voice the feelings I put to him in this thread, so I will. (He can still remove anything he prefers is not said publicly, of course, and I fully accept that). I share Jan's concern that if in fact there is probably little no justification for vilifying the whole town, and that if the problem is just the result of one or two mavericks, it would be better to understand that. Then we can make our own decisions about visiting Audlem, and whether there are places we do not wish to give trade to. It seems unfair if a certain business, (maybe there is more than one, I don't know), can continue to reap the benefits of a large footfall through a very popular area, which in no small way includes large spends by visiting boaters, but can set their own rules about other people being unwelcome. Now, for example, a forum member has promoted the Audlem Festival of Transport, here, and invited owners of historic boats to attend this event. Without taking any sides, our participation in such events undoubtedly helps to draw in a happy public, which in turn is likely to make the weekend more profitable for canal-side businesses. So, if the tenants of the "Fly" have indeed acted out of order towards other boaters, as suggested, then even if I make a personal decision to visit Audlem with a historic boat, but to avoid the "Fly", you could say that I am still complicit in a situation where they are happy to have certain classes of visiting boats there if it suits them, whilst (apparently!) still making life hard for others. There are other events the same weekend, and I would normally in the past attended one of these, but felt drawn to try the Audlem one for the first time. I would like enough information to be available for me to remain comfortable with that decision. Is that so unreasonable? I'd be amazed if the proprietors of the "Fly" had not read most of what has gone on, and it would be perfectly possible for them to have made their own public statement. It seems they prefer not to do so, (unless there was something late on in the closed thread that I never got to see before it vanished!).

I did wonder if the volunteer 'skippers' had the necessary 'ticket' for passenger carrying and the compulsory 3rd party insurance Good job there was no incident !

. Promises promises

Wigan is a long way from South London, so it won't be me, but whoever can turn up on the day, I hope they use the old joke: May the 4th be with you.