Leaderboard

Part 2 (See Part 1 for info and scoring system. The scores reveal at least as much about the pubs as the comments.) Selby Canal and River Ouse JUG, Chapel Haddlesey (Jun 2, 29, Aug 26) 3+4+7=14 A good village local which perhaps needs more imagination. Not busy on a Friday night, and closes early evening Mondays. (2016 - 3+4+9=16 Went out of their way to help me) WHEATSHEAF, Burn (Jul 1, 2) 5+4+8=17 Friendly pub crammed with interesting features, including local airfield memorabilia. GBG GREY HORSE, Brayton (Aug 11) 3+3+8=14 Pleasantly peaceful refurbished local with books and no music. SWAN, Brayton (Sept 2) 2+3+6=11 Large, bright, open but rather cold and cheerless bar. The cheapest this year. DOG HOUSE, Selby (June 30) 5+3+6=14 Trendy 'Craft Beer Cafe', outlet for Little Black Dog Brewery. Beer mediocre, so went to: GEORGE, Selby (June 30) 2+3+5=10 Large town pub next to the Abbey, with traditional unimaginative attitude, lots of tellys (even outside) but no crisps. NELSON, Selby (July 9) 2+4+6=12 Basic little local near the canal basin, rather ruined for me by deafening jukebox, but I suppose this isn't on all the time. GBG GIANT BELLFLOWER, Selby (Aug 8 ) 5+4+7=16 A superior Wetherspoons, in fact probably the best pub in Selby. Much bigger than it looks. Lots of botanical prints. GBG ABBEY VAULTS, Selby (Aug 10) 3+4+6=13 Wood-panelled retro interior. Trying to be a mini Wetherspoons. OLYMPIA, Barlby (Aug 25) 5+4+7=15 Large open plan brewpub with a good selection of its own beers (Jolly Sailor) and welcoming friendly service. 10 mins walk across Selby road bridge. GREYHOUND, Riccall (Aug 19) 5+4+7=16 Comfortable if unremarkable village pub, not accessible from the river, but excellent Selby - York bus service passes the door. GBG BLACKSMITH'S ARMS, Naburn (July 28) 4+3+6=13 Food-oriented and full of kids. Service efficient but bleak. Expensive. Extensive collection of saucy postcards in the Gents a slight redeeming feature. SHIP, Acaster Malbis (July 10) 4+4+8=16 Large attractive riverside pub with substantial pontoon moorings, Welcoming atmosphere and cheerful staff. But CLOSED MONDAYS. GBG EAGLE & CHILD, York (July 11) 5+4+6=15 Fairly new city centre pub with prices to match, but not outstanding. YORK TAP, York (July 11) 5+4+7=16 The York station bar. Geared up for a busy throughput, but quiet in the evening. 17 cask beers and 2 ciders. BLUE BELL, York (July 12) 5+5+9=19 Really old-fashioned small bar and back room. No music, telly, juke box, fruit machines, kids or mobile phones. Cash only. Welcomes all dogs and most people, but not large groups. Great at quiet times, but can get crammed, I believe. GBG MINSTER INN, York (July 12, Aug 5) 5+4+7=16 Near the Museum Garden moorings, up Marygate. Good beer selection, but expensive. SHAMBLES BAR, York (July 25) 5+3+7=15 Tiny bar and back room extending through to the market covered outdoor area - blankets provided! LAST DROP INN, York (July 25) 3+3+6=12 Basic bar, the York Brewery tap, but in the process of being taken over by Brew York, so in transition. Beer warm. BRIGANTES, York (July 26) 5+3+7=15 Large noisy restaurant and bar near the station. Prices not justified for area and ambience. GBG CORNER PIN, York (July 27) 3+4+6=13 Backstreet local found when looking for somewhere to sit down on a York Races Saturday evening. Too noisy to even tell if there was any music. HOUSE OF TREMBLING MADNESS, York (July 29) 3+5+8=16 Small 'ancient' drinking hall above a bottle shop, hidden to avoid being besieged - I couldn't find it at first. Full of strange beasts. Good staff. This is the one in Stonegate, not the much more obvious but not anywhere near as good Lendal one. TANK & PADDLE, York (Aug 5) 3+4+5=12. Large modern establishment which I went into by mistake after a difficult mooring at King's Staithe opposite. The most expensive this year. SLIP INN, York (Aug 6) 5+4+8=17 Unpretentious neighbourhood local with a good beer choice, pleasant atmosphere and cheerful service. Not overpriced for the city. GBG PHOENIX, York (Aug 7) 5+5+8=18. Blessedly quiet old-fashioned slightly shabby pub just within the city walls - well-defended! GBG SWAN, York (Aug 9) 5+5+8=18 Lovely little old-fashioned pub near the SLIP INN. Public bar with serving hatch, and 'smoke room' opening off wide corridor bar. Not expensive GBG DAWNAY ARMS, Newton-on-Ouse (July 24) 3+4+8=15 Attractive old riverside inn, food-oriented but with proper stone flagged bar. Tiny pontoon mooring at the bottom of the garden. (Confusingly, there is another Dawnay Arms in a nearby village which is in the GBG) Ure Navigation & Ripon Canal BLACK BULL, Boroughbridge (July 13) 1+3+7=11 A big disappointment (GBG 2019). Lovely traditional old coaching inn apparently under caretaker management. GRANTHAM ARMS, Boroughbridge (July 13) 3+3+7=13 The nearest to the moorings. Very food-oriented, but several rooms to hide in, with pics of Boroughbridge in its Great North Road heyday. ANCHOR,, Longthorpe (July 23) 3+4+6=13 Very ordinary roadside pub rather spoiled by annoying music. ONE-EYED RAT, Ripon (July 14) 5+4+8=17 Deceptively small frontage. A very exciting visit - the World Cup Cricket final! GBG UNICORN, Ripon (July 15) 5+4+7=16 A 17th Century Wetherspoons! On the attractive Town Square, with lots of local interest and intriguingly mixed shabby furniture. WATER RAT, Ripon (July 22) 4+4+6= 14 Riverside restaurant and bar overlooked by the Cathedral, near the moorings.. Rather noisy, with not-too-efficient staff. River Derwent and Pocklington Canal KING'S HEAD,, Barmby-in-the-Marsh (Aug 24) 2+4+7=13 For sale, and just hanging on - bar only, open Wed-Sun evenings only. Several reminders of better times (it was excellent when I was here in 2012). BOOT & SHOE, Ellerton (Aug 23) 2+4+8=14 Beautiful little old pub in a pleasant village, with small, rather dark low-ceilinged rooms. GBG MELBOURNE ARMS, Melbourne (Aug 21, 22) 2+4+6=12 Rather soul-less open plan makeover with no proper bar, in a nice village with excellent village shop. That's it! 79 pubs visited this year. Top score was the BLUE BELL in York - everything a pub should be, but a victim of its own success, being uncomfortably busy most evenings. My own favourite? Probably the MARKET TAVERN, Brighouse, although the COLLIER'S ARMS, Elland and the PHOENIX, York are close contenders. It is no coincidence that all of these are minus music, telly and fruit machines. Cheers! Mac

I'll probably not be needing anything from there for Christmas, but someone ought to say thanks for posting that. Thanks for posting that!

Just had this through so if anyone is buying themselves anything for Christmas they can save 15% off everything..... BFEARLY Happy Christmas!

Another Harland & Wolff Picture

Surely that's a bloater Phil

You are not thinking big enough. Rip out those silly batteries you have and instal a wood powered sustainable tree growing powered barbecue on the stern. Two ecofans super glued ( careful h and s issue here) to the top. fire up. Cook tea and boat on the tornado like wind power. if you insist on that now obsolete electrical propulsion unit ( so last month) you and have another fan reverse rotation on the bow connected to the alternator. Thus producing power as you brake coming to locks. im looking forward to the wood powered tesla . We could make it autonomous by putting it on two parallel steel rails in the absence of electricity. If we fastened them together it would be even better.

Is that really modern stuff? It looks rather like the worst of the 1960s. The "architect" must be a Thunderbirds fan.

I don't think anyone has yet quoted which of the T&Cs they object to, have they? Just their existence. One of the things I like about the boating fraternity is that it's the last refuge of the anarchists. Unfortunately, quite a few of them haven't grasped the fact that anarchy only really works when everybody obeys the rules,or at least, everybody else does.

Link Not the usual "everything is wonderful" piece

There is a similar boat to this moored on the Soar at Redhill marine - its called Clarice A11

GU to Teddington is not a problem at any time of year. Obviously there will be some water coming down so a trip to Hampton Wick from teddington lock might be a bit slow but nothing particularly worrying. Depending on where on the GU but assuming boat is at Brentford then it's just a short tidal hop with virtually no traffic and a bit of tide to help you along. If the boat is further up the GU there are things like Denham lock which could present problems. ETA its on yellow stream decreasing down there at the moment whereas further up where the river is narrower there are still a lot of red boards out.

from his inverter of course That is not a serious suggestion!!!

It what way do they over ride statute? They indeed extend it but as written they do, as I see it, form a contract which both parties enter into. You are free not to sign them but will then have to persuade a court that CaRT should issue you with a licence despite the absence of such an agreement. Once you have signed up to them, they are indeed a liberty to claim breach of contract if you ignore them. Plenty of people would enjoy being a spectator to your contest and some might be delighted if you won. However, my experience is that folk like to complain about rules until the day when their absence gives them no means of seeking redress.

They steal steel? They'll be selling seashells on the seashore next.

Made it!!! In the end there was plenty of room above the hand rails. Thanks for all the advice.

The artists are having a field day with re-inventing the canal side at Wolverhampton as yet more developments crowd around the canal and railway. The Banana Yard scheme is part of the transformation where the proposed Broad Street offices come to overshadow the former BW Broad Street depot. The canal here is depicted as somewhat wider than it is and the canoes are out along with the boats. May be the developers will slip up with this one! Also what has happen to boaters service facilities ?

Not a good idea to use domestic single core wire. You should really be using multi strand flexible wiring.

That use to be a good pumpout, really sucks, you can probably do 2 boats on one token

Is "Caroline" a pseudonym for Dianne Abbott?

Good luck with that, I would just pay for the mooring even if I wasn't there rather than risk my boat.

The article was about much more than costs involved in living on a boat. The main thrust of the article was about poverty and how to deal with it in an affluent society, and despite having a “good job”.

I bought a hull and lined it out all by my self - unaided. The physical part of lining wasn't too horrific - if you use props and stands to hold things in place. That way you control what goes where behind the scenes. I've seen some awful positioning of services done by the 'professionals'...

I went the lined sailaway route on my boat, twelve years ago now. I don't think Pipers are in that market now. They seem to concentrate on Dutch barge style wide beams. As @Boater Sam says, you need to decide where your services go first as they will be behind the lining, but there are lots of other things that will be making holes in the lining. My electrics were all behind the lining, but plumbing and gas pipes were not, so joints were accessible. I did drawings of where everything was to go. 12V socket outlets. Ceiling down light position, light switch positions, mains socket positions and if they were a single, or double pattress, so a suitable cutout could be made. Skin fitting locations, window locations and if they were porthole, narrow bus window, wide bus window, or side hatch. Roof vent locations. Internal bulkhead locations to define the bathroom area. Water and other pump locations, so the wires could be laid to them. Electrics cupboard location, where the wires all terminate. I did it on a Cad package, so got nice drawings to give to them, but dimensioned hand drawn diagrams would work to. Simon Piper reckoned it was the first time a customer had done Cad drawings for their boat! The more detail you give the builder the better chance you'll get the lining as you want it and the fewer changes and patches you'll have to make. However, any mistakes you make will be entirely your responsibility! Jen

You do have to be certain where you want wiring and plumbing before they start lining. I think the lining out is the simple part and I prefer to know what is behind it and the floor and where all the services are located so line my own out everytime.

A boat's length depends on the reason it is being measured! For selling it is (usually) as long as possible including fenders. For mooring fees it as short as possible excluding removables like fenders. For blacking it is the waterline. For living on it is always a bit too short. For tight bends and winding it is always too long. For any other reason it is any length you like between max and min !!!?

No. Just common sense.

Cos he is the one that stole it and gave it a new name.

The last time I visited the Lanky I didn't go there in my boat, but I'm still a boater.