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Jo Cox Member of Parliament, boat dweller, sometime liveaboard narrowboater her violent death on Thursday 16 June 2016 was a personal tragedy for her and her family, a national tragedy for all of us. May we in our minds eye go to the calm waters of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. As we leave Battyeford Cut heading upriver under a long narrow pedestian bridge and eight boat-lengths further on under another bridge, we have passed through the extent of the navigable waterways of the Parliamentary Constituency of Batley and Spen. It's just one of those things that we will not be able to show her that cartographic quirk on the edge of her constituency. On her parliamentary website it said "Surgeries. Thursday 16th June – 1pm until 2pm @ Birstall Library and Information Centre. No appointment is necessary, please just come along". May that personal commitment to openness and our democratic processes stand in her memory. Jo Cox Member of Parliament: we will remember you. May you Rest In Peace. From my brief tribute at a waterways meeting that weekend. Jo Cox was murdered at her parliamentary surgery that afternoon. Flowers at Birstall war memorial

Just a quick update on where I am with things... First off, thanks again for your responses. All very much appreciated. My mind's been pretty much consumed over the last few days with nothing other than what to do. I've been changing my mind on what feels like a minute by minute basis, and it's been causing me no end of anxiety and stress. I'm naturally a cautious person and like things planned out and to feel in control. What I'm doing at the moment is leaving me feeling the opposite. I've been really honest with my finances and circumstances, and that I'd need to take on further, manageable debt of around £7K on top of the £13K I owe in order to account for a slight bridge in funding the boat itself, but also the survey, blacking, 3 months licence and mooring, new mattress for the boat, new bed and mattress for my spare room and so on. In buying a boat I'd not be just wiping out my savings but taking on more debt, as well as no contingency if things went wrong. And that leaves me feeling deeply uncomfortable. The chain of events including finding a boat, looking for a lodger, wondering about the impact of a non-resedential address might be, taking on debt etc have made me feel like I'm just a passenger on a rollercoaster, as though I've no control over things, when the opposite is true. I feel my job's safe and at the moment there's no sign of this changing. I work in distribution/warehousing servicing a number of customers, so the eggs aren't all in one basket. But despite this the consistent message of 'this is the tip of the iceberg' in terms of things has also ground me down and my naturally cautious side has won over. I've made the decision not to go ahead with the purchase. It's not so much about not wanting to make the move and get a boat to live on any longer, it's about doing it at a point where I feel nothing other than 100% comfortable the time's right. That might be as little as six months away. Who knows. It's inspired me to continue to save hard, waste little, so I can get there soon enough and make sure everything's in place. The longer I wait, the more I save, the nicer boat I'll have too. It'll also buy me time in so much as in 6-12 months I'd have thought most of the impact of Covid and Brexit will be felt and any implications in terms of work etc known too. Lastly, I've had a few health problems recently. Blood tests have revealed nothing, so I'm waiting an MRI brain scan, heart trace and some sort of cortisone/hormone test. Hopefully it'll turn out to be something and nothing, and ironically since I visited the GP a few weeks ago, the symptoms have subsided at little. That said, today I left work early due to extreme back and neck pain - something never experienced before - having never been of work sick for years. I'm just hoping it's related to tension from the last few days. I'll no doubt be back on here in months to come scouting for opinions on another boat etc. I'm grateful for what I've got and there are literally millions out there who'd love to be in my position. Ultimately, it's a selfish first-world problem on my part given all that's going on. Thanks again.

When I lived on, it was the bloke next door selling his boat. He used to run his engine until about one in the morning...

Hi all, Sorry for going awol for a while. Moving on the boat alone (broke up with partner) while in the middle of uni deadline week was not the plan and I did just bury my head in the sand for a few days as I didn't feel I could cope. Alan, who I can't thank enough, has helped me enormously, and thanks to his advice and encouragement I have fitted a battery charger which is powered by shore power, meaning that I now have running water and interior lighting. The water pump ceased to function yesterday, and again thanks to Alan's advice we managed to get it fixed. I've only just checked the thread again and am a bit overwhelmed with the amount of new messages here and that people were concerned. Makes me feel less alone doing this. Thanks very much for your help and for checking in on me, I'm really very grateful. Here is a pic of the old girl. Thanks again guys.

Some of these boat crusties like give the impression that they're a key part of waterways culture. They talk about their way of life and "the liveaboard community" like they're a representative sample. They don't represent me and I don't accept their premise that there's any prejudice. The waterways are overcrowded and we're all expected to comply with the same rules. Anyway, it's a very one-sided video. No interviews with the boaters who don't support them. That pedal powered boat could never hope to comply with any continuous cruising rules. If she can't control her boat in a gentle breeze it sort of makes the point that the boat needs an engine, although nobody is going to bother wasting their money installing an engine on that boat. I certainly wouldn't fancy taking it onto a river!

It is on the Trent at Newark, by lock 14. They are a lot better now than they have been Is suppose that is just a Before-After shot in reverse ☺️

Gopsall Wharf Ashby canal 1975. WRG lent us one of their Smalley machines so we could dredge the loading place. Mostly coal which had missed or been shoveled off the boats. N. Hill bagged it up and sold it later on. This land and the wharf belongs to the crown estate but we were never coal by appointment.

Thanks. Fingers crossed. I'm aiming for 6-12 months, assuming the doctor doesn't write me off ?

|Hmm....

On a river, it will carry on till it gets caught in trees, runs aground on the bank, or on a weir barrier. Your immediate problem is getting to the bank without drowning and wearing a lifejacket is a much better idea. Getting to wherever the boat has got to is a problem for later. You are worrying about a miniscule risk and the solution introduces new hazards. A boat where the engine is stopped on a river is still out of control. Your chances of being able to board a narrowboat in the water is small when wearing wet clothes, even with the boarding steps that modern shells have. Jen

If you are boating single handed I guarentee you will forget to disconnect the kill switch when getting off to do locks and forget to reconnect when getting on. It will be a massive pain in the bum and after the first day it will never be used again. People falling off and dying does happen, but is very rare. Usually as has been mentioned, getting drawn in to a reversing prop in a lock.

It would be possible, on engines with a fuel solenoid powered to run, fairly easily. Few and far between now. On engines with a powered to stop solenoid, like all Beta engines, a bit more involved. On boats with a mechanical stop cable, involved. But is it really needed? The chances of getting chopped by the blade is minimal unless you are reversing or for some reason thrashing in a lock. Could you train the dog to stop or to steer? Or would the dog be even more gleeful if it could cruise alone? TD'

Yes, suitably spruced up (courtesy of the lockdown) and could be for sale to the right person.

If what they asked made sense or indeed was always safe practice I’d agree...sadly it’s not so I will continue to rather operate my own locks...if they want to set them up on a flight that’s fine but I’d rather not have either myself, my crew or my boat at risk.

And if you need a suitable tug @NB Esk might be able to help.

There’s a life lesson for you right there

You can go in 20 shops a day, but you cant sleep in your boat, if you own a house. Nonsense. Your child can go to the zoo to those 20 shops and visit their grandparents, but cant go to school. Nonsense If you are part of the inner sanctum you can leave london with your covid ridden Spouse, go and live in a house built with no planning permission , and not paying council tax, and visit beauty spots at will. As well as driving with dodgy eyesight. Nonsense No wonder people just do what they like.

Can we find a home for all those who are enjoying lockdown...isle of wight maybe? Then the rest of us can just get on with it!

It is a Rose coloured Starling. Not really a UK bird but currently there has been a big influx. I haven't managed to see one. EDIT to add it has come a long way they are central Asian.

Might it be a Hooded Crow: About the same size as a magpie. Another possibility but unlikely (not normally in the UK at this time and smaller) is one of the Shrikes:

you are the best person to decide based on your own situation, very happy to be your sounding board, that's what strangers are for, no judgements. May be you can do it a few months later or a year. you are very young. best of luck.

I don't know you so I had no idea what you've been doing. I was trying to be of help. In your position, I'd be tempted to simply stop paying and put the ball firmly in their court. Then make a county court claim for the payments already made. At the risk of another spiky response - have you involved your MP or ward councillors?

On this day in 2001 Moira Lock Ashby Canal and the nearby construction

When we were liveaboards 20 years ago, the thing that improved life for us was spending the winter in a motorhome in Spain and Portugal.

I see you've been practicing with mooring lines as well as a paintbrush! She's looking very smart.

Replacement parts... screwfix click and collect?

Please reread your comment again, and put yourself of someone working (in somewhat difficult circumstances) in the MLC. Would you feel well disposed to help, on reading those words? I (just an ordinary boater, trying to improve communication channels) had a similar reaction on reading your note.

Ah, can't manage a can opener then. Our GSD, a monster, was quite adept at opening cans, he just bit the top off. I have not fallen off the back of a canal boat, yet. But for some reason I feel more secure on a small trad deck than on a big open cruiser stern. Best of all is to sit on the roof with a longish tiller, doing the Pontcysyllte aqueduct with your back to the drop! TD'

She would indeed be gleeful until it came time to have her dinner...

Don't agree, weve never had problems with volunteers or staff at any lock, what we have seen is some pig headed boaters NOT doing as they are asked. Lets stop keep knocking the volunteers.

There is a difference between mixing it and following the rules. To date I've followed (and exceeded ) the rules. However, it's becoming increasingly difficult to do so for several reasons. Firstly they've become extremely confusing, explain the bubble rule in logical terms. Presently I am permitted to drive 75 miles to visit and work on my boat (within distancing rules). At the end of the day I am permitted, indeed required to drive another 75 miles back home to sleep. The following day I am permitted to repeat the process. I am not permitted to stay on the boat overnight either in the marina or on the bank some 50 yards away.

Cambrian wharf very convenient for brum centre, two fingers are visitor and need BW key to access, not well marked though.

On the main line opposite the roundhouse, and each end on the side opposite the Areana are 14 day (or is it 7, but more than 2 day at least). By salvage turn each side of the services is also 14 day but it’s a bit of a wind tunnel there.

But there are almost certainly a load more infections than deaths, as a percentage are asymptomatic, and you can only really count the dead. But who knows, really? All the people I know of who have been tested positive have fully recovered bar one who was 98 in a care home. I'm not saying it's not dangerous, or to stop bothering. We've just got used to having vaccines for stuff that used to kill these numbers regularly, and for large death numbers to only happen in third world countries. But as someone has said, by closing down virtually all other health stuff, we risk losing more to other things - a friend was diagnosed with cancer three months ago and still has no idea when any treatment might start. Plus wrecking the economy, increasing homelessness etc etc. And destroying the quality of our lives while we still have them. You can't isolate everyone until there's a vaccine,and you can't legislate away a virus.

If I went to stay with a single lady friend my wife might put me in danger!