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I am saddened to report the death of friend and colleague Dave Bird who passed away yesterday after a short but devastating bout with cancer. Dave came to Norton Canes in the early 2000s, as we were putting Resolute together at Graham Edgson’s yard. An experienced painter and decorator, he soon gravitated to the paint dock, working alongside other skilled craftsmen, notably Trevor Ward and Richard Corbett. Although primarily a painter, he was also adept at other aspects of boat repair and maintenance, fitting wooden handrails and similar tasks. His paint jobs were painstaking and flawless, I often felt a twinge of guilt at stealing the glory by adding the livery. We worked together for many years, I marvelled at his ability to graft tirelessly, rubbing down for hours on end before picking up a paintbrush. After some years, he moved next door to Canal Transport Services, working alongside Matt Cooper to produce immaculate coach painted finishes. We continued to work together until recently when a scan revealed several tumours. I saw him last week in hospital, where he was in discomfort but still in good spirits. This will be of interest primarily to owners of Norton Canes boats and those he painted at CTS. We have lost a fine craftsman. Dave

Massive Fund Drive and Benefit Concert Following recent short term hardware issues at a lock in Godmanchester, it has become apparent that major trauma has occurred in the area and we are doing our utmost to alleviate the local suffering. We have invited the Waterbouys, the Travelling Riverside Blues Band, the Jesus and Mary Boat Chains, among others, to come together on the local watermeadows (weather permitting) for a benefit concert for trapped boaters at Godmanchester Lock. Free local transport will be arranged so the couple can get to their van and take it back to their mooring when suitable ( not waiting for an encore could be construed as rude under Waterways act 3.1a). Local businesses will be contacted to support catering needs and we might even run to a long hosepipe if this is certified to Potable Waterstandards 2017 - clause 32.7b). Local tiling agents have been contacted for cover work in case the lock repairs take longer than expected, however, they are a grouty lot and no help at present.

Maybe so, but I see a self-entitled idiot trying to do something he shouldn't.

Yesterday I visited a local marina to take a look at the mooring I’m going to reserve for my boat once house has sold . A chap from marina showed me the mooring which is perfect for what I want as it’s next to the security gate leading onto the pontoon so not far for my arthritic dog to get to grass for a wee. Within a minute of being there a lady in the next berth who would be my new neighbour popped out of her boat with a barrage of questions what boat? How big? When? Etc it transpires their boat had moved up one from the mooring I’m looking at. You will never get your boat in there she said despite it being same beam but 8 feet shorter than hers. you will never get it out in the summer as no water far too shallow..,but you managed? Its really noisy as everyone stands on bank side chatting..... really You will have to reverse all the way out? But you reversed in ? I somehow think that this boat owner doesn’t want neighbours and is hell bent on trying to put anyone wanting their vacant spot off moving in. If that lady is on her Thank you for your warm welcome and encouragement to enjoy a life afloat. Have your words put me off???? Hell no. See you soon neighbour.???

Oh my word. The poor couple. 5 whole days! Try 6 weeks moored next to matty40s ?

Same with a jar of honey.

You haven’t read the brexit thread then have you??!!

Hi all! We did a 2 weeks hireboat trip in mid July to Llangollen + Chester. One thing that I didn't expect to happen so often was shopping for food. But we had 3 constantly growing teens in the crew which ate us out of boat and home. Another reason may've been also that we arrived (from Germany) by plane. So we did only some essential food shopping before getting afloat on our Snowmane of Chas Hardern Boats. Considering that. I thought that it might be helpful to post some notes and maps on the topic food shopping for other canal visitors. Generally, I propose that you bring a backpack or just any other convient bags (i.e. IKEA bags) for shopping. This depends also on how many hands you have to carry the food (count only one hand for each teen as the other is constantly occupied by the phone). The footpaths which I marked on the maps are often NOT quite suitable for anything with wheels. Nantwich (Shopshire Union Canal): Ok, Nantwich is off topic. But I'll add it anyway as it is quite close to the Hurleston Locks/Llangollen Canal and we actually DID do shopping there. We had to search quite a bit for a mooring spot here. The town seems to be popular. At least in summer and on a saturday. Our walk went through a quiet residential area where we spotted at least 4 cats ? and then through the park along the River Weaver. Wrenbury: There's a SPAR at Wrenbury. Despite its small size you find nearly everything in there. We took the public footpath across a field from liftbridge 19 which (officially) crosses a graveyard. For me, this little village resembles somehow a location of the Midsomer Murders tv series. Whitchurch: You might have to fiddle a bit with the winding holes when coming from north. The footpath follows the former continuation of the Whitchurch Arm. Therefore you avoid any steep climbs. ? Quite a walk but not boring. Ellesmere: You'll find the Tesco right at the end of the Ellesmere Arm. But it can be difficult to find a mooring spot here in the summer. You may consider mooring on the Llangollen outside the Arm. The walk isn't far anyway. I'll skip Chirk. We saw on the map that you could moor up right after the Chirk Tunnel (North side) and walk to a SPAR. But surprisingly we spared this one. Llangollen: In Llangollen, you moor along the canal or in the marina. In any case, if you stay longer than 4 hours then you have to pay a fee of 6£ per day. For this, you'll get water and shore line (if you brought a 16A, "blue", camping type cable, I think) at each mooring spot. I marked the Llangollen Wharf where you can obtain the ticket or ice cream or narrowboat themed towels.... The horse drawn boats also start there. Obviously, there are some shopping opportunities in Llangollen. We found the walk along the river Dee to get to the ALDI actually quite pleasant.

50 hrs more will be sometime like June 2020! Its already a year late should have been done end of 2018 only did 50hrs this year........just wanted to get it done before this winter.

I have seen several boats painted by Dave and they really did last longer. Both the Norton Canes and CTS paintwork teams were the standard setters in the business at the turn of the century as paintwork moved to new level, not just shiny boats, but shiny boats that stayed shiny and smart if looked after...

Just like most bottled water then.

Park with the pointy end towards her boat and test the horn occasionally It will take her a while to suss out where the noise comes from

I think desperate is when the boat sinks, your cat dies, Boris is pM and the string on your guitar breaks, not when a lock 8 miles from home is temp shut... must have had a charmed life til then

No electricity..... Bout time they installed some batteries in board then....?

There's a small Spar outlet at the petrol station by the roundabout behind Whitchurch Marina.

I don’t know if the Two Ronnies ever did a canal-based sketch but this is a canal forum and “The Prendergast File” is 15 minutes of canal history gold.

If you have no shut off in the return, disconnect the flexi from the filter and lift above the fuel tank level. Can you guess how I know?

Why don't you disconnect the two rubber hoses from the pipework and put them in a bucket of water and then run the heater. just to check it will fire up and run.