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I do find this whole preoccupation some boaters have with the T&Cs completely ridiculous. Virtually every time you click on a website, or buy something online, from a sofa to a train ticket to a bit of software, you have to accept a raft of terms and conditions which no-one in their right mind ever bothers to read. Most of these are legally unenforceable and some are probably totally illegal, but it really doesn't matter. You accept them because otherwise you can't get what you want. If you break them, accidentally or deliberately, it's up to the seller to try and enforce them, which, most of the time they won't bother to do because it isn't worth their while. Most of the time neither the seller nor the buyer knows what they are anyway - remember that ferry firm without any ferries that had copied all theirs from, I think, something like the local chip shop? Generally, they are how the firm issuing them thinks you should act and use their product. And CRT's are exactly the same. They are how CRT reckons boaters should behave in order to, in their opinion, based on the fact that they are likely to know more about the general economics and overall make-up of the system than any single individual, make the canal system last longer and be a good place for people to play and live on. For most of us, they work fine and we never even get close to stretching the boundaries of them. On the margins, there are precious few penalties that can be imposed, so they can generally be broken with impunity, usually the only result is inconvenience and annoyance to everyone else around. They are just general rules of behaviour to be taken into account, just the same as when you buy your sofa. No-one gives a toss whether they are legal or not, just whether, in the main, they are sensible. Which, in the main, they are. And noisy and/or inconsiderate bastards aren't, and it really doesn't matter a fig whether they are being it legally or not. They're just a pain in the arse.

Hello all. First post, so be gentle if this is in the wrong place etc. Back in 1976 my parents hired Sabden from L&L in Adlington and headed East through Foulridge Tunnel and beyond. Here are a few pictures, which I hope of are of interest. Any info about the boat(s) and the locations would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I found these on a website of old postcards of Kinver, kinverpostcards.co.uk Most are identifiable as Kinver, but the two of dredging the canal are not easily confirmed to be Kinver (but I like the steam dredger and crane). Most are Hyde Lock. The replacement of the lock gate is at the Vine (Kinver) lock. The image of the boat on the curved section of canal looks to be Paddock cottage, half way between Hyde and Kinver locks, though I stand to be corrected if someone know better.

Couple of things. People have a habit of seeing themselves as set above and separate from nature. This is not so. In nature an animal that attacks, or threatens to attack another animal ten times its weight and four times its height is likely to get its arse kicked. In the case of stroppy swans or geese it's best to fall in with the natural order. Their assumption of dominance is learned behaviour. Also, it's said that swans mate for life. On the contrary, my experience is that they fly away as soon as you let go.

All this bitterness towards swans. Don't people realise that the swan is the symbol of purity, beauty, grace and elegance... Whereas the swallow is the sign of true love.

My 1/2 socket set came from Halfords with a lifetime guarantee many, many, many years ago. When a socket split I took it back, mostly out of bravado. An interesting half hour followed. I don't think one of the many I spoke to had eve n been born when I bought the set. The more they made comments along the lines of 'what do you expect' and 'it' old' the more I dug my heels in. Eventually they gave me a 13mm socket to get rid of me.That was the day I realised I was a Grumpy Old Git.

I used to be fond of agricultural machinery ... ... but now I'm an ex-tractor fan! /coat!

I used to be a stove fan but now I've been blown away by my new Webasto.

It's really the same old story and always has been. since year dot. The minority twerps always spoil things for the majority, causiing mountains of laws, regulations at tremendous cost to us and the powers that be.

I test mine that way, but before connecting the DVM across the GI (in either direction) I temporarily short out the two GI terminals with a short length of wire, remove the shorting wire and then take the DVM readings. This is because many GI's have a small capacitor across the diodes to allow high frequency a.c. ripple to leak to earth, and this capacitor can charge up to the battery voltage of the DVM and give a false reading.

For battery charging you can spend a fortune or buy something good that does the job. If plugged in you just need to maintain the batteries so dont spend a lot. I have a MASO 5 amp multi stage unit on my motorhome, they also do an 8 amp and maybe others? It does a fine job when plugged in and maintains on a float of 13.7 iirc. The price delivered was £28. If you want a charger for using from say a gennie at canal side you need a bigger charger than this.

cant find their ears

Canada geese, a pestilence. shame that recently they were added to the protected list. I wish they should all be removed back to Canada in exchange for wood pellet fuel. They are dirty, noisy and eat more than sheep. Useless as a sport bird, they just peer down the barrel as you shoot them, idle beggars. Feed them slug pellets.

There is a new prison sentence for stealing Lithium iron batteries.....LiFe.

No, I am afraid that the "calories" that you use for food measure are in actual fact Kilo-calories so you would have to run the thingy for an extra 30,000 minutes or 21 days. This goes to show that if you could invent the sausage roll powered narrowboat then you would be well in and Greg's share price would rocket.

If you play a Windows 10 CD 'backwards' you get Satanic messages, but even worse, if you 'play'; it normally you get Windows 10 on your PC

The windows are probably opening modern full hoppers and don't look like they open from the outside.

Theres tractors in thi... well sort of... Bugger it no real link to the topic just worth a post

Which issue of the magazine is that one going in? Probably more seasonal than the solar and LiFePo4 article ...

watched Storyville on BBC4 last night - Tracy Edwards who skippered the first female crew on the Whitbread race. Wonderful inspiring story. Catch it if you can

We took our cat for her annual jabs to the Hilmorton vets. Could get the bus from Crick if you need to.

Just use the toaster. Either on shoreline or using the inverter. ESSENTIALS C02TW17 2-Slice Toaster - 700 watts £7.29

1. 1/4" sq Drive is ideal for small sockets for things like jubilee clips and 3/8 for most things on the engine but a few things may require the leverage afforded by a 1/2 set. I bought a fairly cheap combination set with 1/4 and 3/8 drive for the boat but then I have my "now not so professional" tools to fall back on when a 1/2 drive was needed. The only thing I think I used it for was the internal anode holder but not so many inland engines have those. 2. just keep them well charged in my view, you are not in the Arctic.

Sockets drive size - it depends on the size of socket! So for 6-12mm you probably want 1/4 inch. For bigger stuff, 1/2 inch. Personally I wouldn’t bother with 3/8th. Halfords do some quite good socket sets with multiple drive sizes. At full price they are expensive but usually are on offer at a “massive discount”. Batteries and rubber mats - no it’s an old wives tale. The important thing is to get them fully charged and maybe top the charge up every couple of months, especially if there is an automatic bilge pump. Or of course if you are living aboard, charge them frequently.

You must be joking, what with there being an Aldi or Lidl tucked behind most bushes along the cut these days. Anyway they taste too much like owl for my liking.

I've got the magazine sat on the side but not read it yet. I bet it was written by some muppet.

I thought that was for assault and battery?

It doesn't matter much whether a stated rule is legally binding or not. Most laws are unenforceable - for example, it's actually against the law to stab people, but you can't stop people doing it. You can punish them afterwards if you can find them, but that doesn't actually stop the nuisance in the first place. A law which is neither going to be obeyed or possible to enforce is pointless. That's why the t&c's are worth having as a guideline. They're simple to understand and cheap,and largely enforced by peer pressure. If you want noise nuisance to be controlled and policed, you have first to define it, then hire a million noise coppers to crack down on it. I think the licence fee might have to go up.