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We, (including you), do not know who has been contacted and what avenues have been explored, and what has not been explored. What you can be sure of is that this has been going on for a long long time, and there has been plenty of opportunity for the various supportive agencies to be involved, particularly as the guy seems to have friends who have loaned him a boat and who are organising a collection for him. In addition, the NBTA must have been involved for some time and will have been in a position to help, or call for help. As I said above... if the help had started earlier, he could have been helped to fund his licence, his insurance, and his BSS, such that nobody would have been turning up at 9am.... Having said that... in my area, (Manchester), the council have a policy of telling people they cant help with homelessness until somebody is actually made homeless. This means people having to be evicted by bailiffs and on the street. If someone were to leave their home and becoming homeless at any point before the bailiffs come, they are deemed to have made themselves homeless voluntarily, and the coucil say they have no requirement to help, (This is actually illegal but, if you are the vulnerable tenant at risk, you are not really in a position to argue). So it is entirely possible that the council will help the guy, but were not willing to do anything until after 9am on the day, when he was evicted.

As a minimum social services should have been there but then again I'm one of those hippy idealists that thinks that no one should be left like this

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation and I doubt anyone here really knows the history of who did what to who the poor sod shouldn't have been left on the towpath with his possessions stacked around him

Oh Dear. That describes that feeling that I get when I feel obliged to take the side of someone who I really would not like to have living near me. The bloke has probably been 'just about managing' to feed and clothe himself for ages, he has probably been only one step from homelessness for years, the state of the boat looks awful, the living conditions not much better than a cardboard box and now he loses even that and is presumably on the streets. Well that's better for everybody innit? No doubt all of us capable, sensible folks have all the right paperwork and we don't suffer from too much confusion and can remember to do all the necessary stuff, - he obviously can't. I know CRT have their responsibilities and that doesn't include sorting out the lives of the inadequate or just plain hopeless but if social services can provide ramps for disabled and help with living surely someone could have got in touch and prevented this. It hasn't solved anything except making the canal a bit neater when the boat is crushed.

What surprised me when I read the story on FB was how all his neighbours were up in arms what what the bad C & RT had done to wonderful Tony and how everyone should chip in and help buy him another boat then it came out that these same people had known that Tony had had warning notices etc and had ignored them. Why did they not all chip in then and help the guy? Haggis

Digitally, and otherwise, the swan and bridge could have been revitalised by the use of colour, as it is not obviously a bridge and swan to the uninitiated. What is it going to be: a Tim and Pru [Rosey and Jim] type family walking hand in hand along a scenic towpath, with a kayak and a bike in the foreground, a historic narrowboat in the background, and a digitally enhanced kingfisher in a cameo. Mixed messages. It seems the CRT have no funding to replace important message boards like depth gauges, but have decided to spend money on new clothing and goodness knows what else, are all the B&W C&RT notices to be replaced .......... it will cost a fortune. If awareness is low among towpath users, that is a problem which can easily be addressed but I don't think that it will help with re financing, which seems to me to be the problem. Were the stakeholders consulted ................ a virtual suggestion box might have come up with a few acronyms and straplines. WET : Waterways & Environment Trust CRINGE : Canals, Rivers, Industrial Navigations and General Environment WC : Wellbeing for Canalophiles, WD-40 Wildlife Diversity for all Moaty McMoatface

Some of these comments are nauseating in their sanctimoniousness and smugness, in my view. If some one has to be evicted from their home I would wish, at the very least, other agencies are contacted in advance, and that on the day every possible avenue to re home the person instantly has been explored and made public. For C&RT staff to turn up mob handed at 9am, with a number of Police, and tell some one to take their dog, and what they can carry off the boat, before seizing it, is simply unacceptable. C&RT actions may well be legal, but there is a much better way. Whilst holding out a begging bowl with one hand (breech) they conduct themselves in this bullying unnecessarily brutish way. Rog

Is that fare?

I believe the re-branding will be a fairly costly exercise when you factor in the cost of replacing all employee and volunteer uniforms, change of logo on signage and vehicles. It is a pity there is no flexibility in the budget structure which could divert this money to the repair of the Middlewich arm. I know the amount of money saved on the branding would not cover the cost of the repair but it would help.

Dear me, I've only been "on board" with inland waterways for twelve months, it takes a while to understand the ins and outs of such a large and complex organisation Canal and River Trust seems to me to sum up the ethos in three words, re-branding suggests a failure to convey a message, if this is so, that is the issue to be addressed. It costs a lot to rebrand, and I don't think that a new name will confer a new image, or a better understanding of the complexity. In other rebranding of charities I have seen the acronym is used frequently, and has to be fairly short, eg RSPB, WHW. I can't imagine something shorter than C&RT, other than CRT. I assume the C&RT are not re-branding for any negative reason [cf Windscale [plutonium, fire, disaster, obfuscation, pollution]--> Sellafield [recycling plant] I left mainstream large company employment some time ago, before wellbeing, wellness, and diversity, at the time it was sea change, movers and shakers, but these are now consigned to the the litter bin of the last century.

He’s cleverer than he looks!

You know, your right, just bung the daft old sod in the vat of solyent green, problem sorted

* sobs uncontrollably * I just want to know where the 1A and 5A wires go... * sobs *

i-phone? I haven't even got h-phone yet!

Follow the danboline instuctions to the letter if you want a good job. Primers are designed to wet out the surface well so you get good adhesion. That will be the issue here so I would use a primer. Dont worry about abrading between coats as long as you dont leave too long in between. The critical thing is going to be temperature. I dont like painting below 15°C. Any lower and you can hit the dew point which is the temp at which water will condense out onto a cold surface. Make sure your primer goes on when the temp is high enough, the top coats will be a little more forgiving as it is the primer that needs the full adhesion. April does not sound a good idea. The water temp is far too low. I need to do mine this year but will leave it until late July/August when the water is warmest. The paint cures better at higher temperatures but although the data sheets may give a minimum temperature, this is more about the dew point causing water on the surface at low temps.

What does look bad for CRT is doing nothing about unlicensed and uninsured boats. Cases like this send out a clear message that you will lose your boat if you choose not to licence or insure it.

I would never attempt to Iron water (let alone deironise it), the waves would be impossible to remove.

I was asked to. TBH apart from encouraging chatter I see no benefit in these "What do you think of this boat .....?" enquiries. I haven't seen any of them, I haven't been on board, I haven't taken any of them out, and I certainly haven't seen any of them out of the water. On top of which my taste is hardly likely to be anything similar to the OP's nor are my needs or budget. The only honest truthful advice any of us can give anyone asking these questions is ....... If you've been to see it and satisfied yourself you want it, make an offer subject to satisfactory survey and be there when it's done. My views, prejudices and preferences have no relevance. If you want to buy a boat, then buy one and get out on the cut.

A lot of the agricultural and environmental grants are going to be up in the air with leaving the EU and the Common Agricultural Policy over the next few years. Maybe CaRT are looking to tap in to whatever replacement happens. Must admit it is an area I know nothing about. Playing up the environmental and social benefits ot the waterways is a good idea. They are short of income. They can't soak boaters for much more without a rebellion. The current government doesn't have a reputation for giving money directly for things that make people happy, so the future of the direct grant is unsure once the funding agreement runs out. Their forays in to building development and ancillary businesses like pubs and marinas have not been a success for the most part. Getting money direct from cyclists and towpath walkers directly isn't going to happen, so it has to be from other organisations to support these activities. Jen

I did say the timimg could not have been worse, to announce something and leave a vacuum for eight weeks is a long time I know a lot go boating, three trustees either own or have owned a boat and now we have two boaters reps on the Appointment committee, the influence of boating will increase as they have that as criteria now

Too much money for a slab sided boat powered by an excavator engine which is ridiculously overpowered and relies on a rubber band to control the camshaft.

If you come flying past the end of here you will have made one hell of a balls of it!!

Last year we hit Selby at the top of the tide it was perfik shame the lock keeper wouldnt let us in!!!

When coming back down from York and doing my first turn into Selby lock with the flow of the tide, I have to confess that I wasn't at all confident I would get it right. I did, but not without a lot of arm waving from the lockie. An experience I'd like to repeat to see if I learnt anything. Loved the fast flowing rivers but satisfying to get back on the canal.

Is this a quick one like your ecofan thread, or a quick one like your Langley Mill thread?

That's not difficult. He looks like a dog! I say that with experience!!

That was clever of Rusty to get back on topic!

Yes that does sound like a rather good boatyard, but I think I need to go on a river to get there and according to the OP I will need to replace my pump out toilet with a cassette if I want to attempt that.

........ Have finished your sentence?

Why is it that I get a shivver up my spine every time I read a post such as this.?