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The level of ignorance in this post is staggering.

There are no poor marina owners.

Most of the fallen trees I've seen pictures of seem to be offside and mostly not under CRTs control, this also makes inspection harder because without 3rd party access agreement the area can only be viewed from towpath side. I have no figures for this but purely based on experience i don't think there is a general increase in fallen trees, somewhat contrary to that though this year has been fairly extreme weather wise, hot, dry, wet, windy at various points through the summer, today and potentially tomorrow for example has some unusually high winds, which does not bode well for wet ground full canopy trees.

I have often wondered about that. Despite frequent reference suggesting that Kearley and Tonges in Southall were jam manufacturers, it is a misinterpretation of their business. They did produce Jam, biscuits and cakes, but their main busines was actually the import and sale of tea under the brand name "International Tea" which developed into a grocery wholesale business, and the site in Southall was a general food manufactory and one of their many distribution warehouses. They also ran a large chain of Retail Grocery shops known as "International Stores" The confusion may have arisen from the fact that there was a Jam Factory on an the adjacent site run by a company called Ticklers, but they had no connection to Kearley and Tonges. The interpretation of "Jam 'Ole" being given as where boats were jammed in would explain the description.

If it is true that this guy is new to boating, and is going round this old warhorse again, then he's in for a stack of shocks as he goes along as he's obviously done no research whatsoever into what he's just started doing. Which is why this discussion should be curtailed as he obviously has no interest in answers, just a bit of fun stirring. He'll be saying the CRT logging system isn't fit for purpose next, and then that EOG mooring fees are illegal...

Eynsham has a rather large tank with a huge reserve to feed it. It's situated about a couple of hundred yards abve Pinkhill Lock on the left..........

I can talk trees all day

Just like to say, in general, maintenance is NOT perfect. When a company becomes re-active rather than pro-active thats when they get on the slippery slope. In addition ive never shouted at a tree making it fall over. Can speeding boats make trees fall over? Is there too much rain. The Oxford Canal summat is suffering a shortage of water.The LL canal is also short of water. How does vandalism cause a tree miles from anywhere fall into a canal? Just saying like.

I don’t think you fully understand the nature of CRT’s constitution. A misconception in your original mail is that CRT is a ‘not for profit’ organisation. Although it’s an often used term such companies are in fact ‘not for dividend’. Ideally they will make a profit, but whereas with a publicly listed company that profit will benefit shareholders, in CRT’s case it benefits the Government for they hold the private share(s) in CRT. So any profit does benefit other public services or reduces the public subsidy to CRT. Mooring income is one source of potential income and therefore profit for CRT hence any private marina is a threat to their financial performance. It is however recognised that it’s mutually beneficial to have private marinas hence there are agreements in place whereby CRT reduce their own mooring spaces to create a larger market for private marinas which otherwise would struggle to make the business case to invest in the first place. The direct financial disbenefit to CRT is offset through the terms of the NAA that requires boats in marinas to be licensed and the marina to pay a charge to CRT for the connection through which, unless the site of your marina was previously a natural lake, CRT does provide the marina with water in return. It’s all above board and legal. JP

This list is quite reasonable https://www.iims.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Glossary-of-Narrowboat-and-Canal-terms.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwik5dTHharrAhUjQ0EAHe4-AwQQFjABegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw3xsEQkd9pW0knlVayQ6uII&cshid=1597935368407 Downloads a pdf from the IIMS (International institute of marine surveyors). ETA if I had known about "backering" twelve years ago I might have gone for that as an alternative to getting together with a woman and "bickering'. Horses which can do the towage by themselves sound pretty cool.

One of the yards I work with favour Black Country Paints at the moment. They’ve tried all sorts over the last 25 years I’ve been lettering stuff for them!

Exactly this, it’s all about contract law. Nothing to do with charities or limited companies, just contracts freely entered into.

I suggest you spend some time researching charity law and the legal basis of the transfer of the statutory functions of British Waterways to the Canal & River Trust. On your point about boat licences in marinas you are correct in saying CRT cannot take action against boaters inside marinas for not having a licence. However if the marina has a NAA (or in most cases an earlier connection agreement) they can take action against the marina owner for breach of contract for permitting boats to moor in the marina if their boat isn't licenced.

Another stupid spot last week: Grounded at the very end of Lovers' Creek (Capenwray Arm) on the Lancaster Canal. From the smell, not many boats come this far past the moorings!

Sorry, but whoever is guiding you to a scheme like this has an axe to grind somewhere. Probably hoping for a load of work downstream and reluctant to kill a goose that might lay golden eggs. It can no doubt be delivered, because capital is relatively easy to come by. It is coughed up by people whose job is to think regeneration is achieved by new, clever and expensive building projects. The hard part is finding a long term income to keep the simple bits going, as well as the unnecessary complications There are not many possibilities for long term management. CRT are unlikely to take it on without a substantial endowment and an annual payment- they know what Anderton costs to run and maintain, don't forget. That endowment will not come from the capital funds, and any annual contribution from users alone won't go near the costs. CRT manage the Rochdale for the local councils on this basis, broadly. How is that working out? Peel will not touch it with a very long stick unless it can be made to make money. So that and freight, water supply or tourism. Forget freight. As a tourist attraction it competes with Anderton. That does not make money, even though it is principally a modern hydraulic lift wrapped up in a Victorian/Edwardian structure. Can't see much money in water supply either. The local councils have neither money nor expertise. A volunteer body might make it work for a few years but will struggle to build up the cash reserves to deal with a major breakdown. With both a lift and a plane the likelihood of problems is more than doubled. The whole scheme needs a really hard headed looking at. N

So It Might Have Been Like This:

OK, I'm ready ................................

You are of course right. Everyone's use is different. We use circa 160Ahr each day - so the batteries are down by 160Ahrs each morning and that needs to be put back in. On our new boat with 480Ahr of AGMs we were finding that we needed at least 4 hours of running the engine to get back to full. That then is fine if you are CCing and doing 4 hours a day. That is with a big alterntor...but the problem with LAs is that the hours needed to charge are largely in the period when the batteries are controlling the charge. Yes our 240A alternator was good for the first hour but then the reducing tail current sets in. With the Li's now set up and charging at 90A, we replenish our power in 2 hours so that halves the engine running. In the winter we will be on shore power above 50% of the time but when out we can park up and just run the engine 2 hours a day.....or maybe 1 hour a day if I use bigger wires between the batteries and the Combi!!! Li's would be very good for peeps who park up for days on end who use a bit of power. Prolly no use for peeps who are camping! I love my electric car. It drives down the motorway on its own!!!!! (on lasts nights Beeb news!)

I'd disagree with Mrsmelly re the appearance as it is rather shapeless. I wondered where this boat had been designed to cruise. It has various navigation gubbins on a mast which suggest it's for slightly more serious waterways, and which presumable folds down when necessary for low bridges, but it looks basically like an inland vessel. I certainly wouldn't want to use it on continental waterways - the stern dollies are fine as a mooring point, but are tucked away unusably as a bit of working gear, and that it what you need for lock work there. It has no side decks so you presumably either go through the accommodation to the fore end or clamber across the top. I'm sure the owners are very happy and proud of it though, so who am I to cast aspersions Tam

Hi all, We are back in Germany. We had a very good time on the narrow boat in England crusing the Stourport Ring. Due to the great support for the planning here in this forum we had a much better idea what might be posible and what not. We have seen the lovely country side between Worcester and Birmingham and along the River Severn and Staffordshire&Worcestershire Canal. During the trip we decided to go up until Autherley Junction and via the Wolverhampton Locks to BCN (and not via Stourbridge as orignally planned). I can not judge whether this was the right decision but it gave us two adventures? When I have a little more time, I will publish a more detailed report. (Stay tuned?) But now, once again, thank you very much, to all those who had supported us here with good advice.

Hahaha - made I larf, nearly wet something or other. BTW - I've been watching far too many YouTubes recently where there are a Legion of folks doing their best to waste the Police's or TV scrotes time - just for the hell of it. Same here with the OP - Get a Life Sonny. The rules are what they are Nothing's perfect - there are loadsa' lawyers getting fat trying to change that statement, take a deep breath and enjoy what's there - 'cos there's a load of ordure about to hit everybody this winter and beyond... (I've got a large whisky mac in my hand to prove it).

Bless you.

Our gardener drinks scotch and if I tried to balance less than £20 on him he would leave. Oh, wrong again ?

It’s a question of scale. The Edward Elgar operates out of Gloucester where it does have a dedicated facility (which is presumably rented from CRT). From comments above it appears it also has similar arrangements in places it frequently visits. Requiring a business to expend large sums of money on little used infrastructure is not a very clever strategy. As you surely know businesses are made viable by good strategy, wise investment decisions, a value for money product and marketing, and do not become viable by default. So without this facility it’s quite possible the Edward Elgar would ensure the viability of its business by never going to Stourport. That would likely not be well received by local traders and they have lobbying power through their representative associations. It would also potentially have a knock on effect to the Elgar’s schedule as it may be more difficult to sell a lesser range of cruises. Hence we have a compromise situation that provides more benefit than disbenefit overall to the full scope of concerned parties. It’s also worth remembering that other hotel boats licensed for CRT waterways do not as a rule use purpose built mooring facilities so there is also a question of fairness in how CRT treat their business licence applicants. Your example of a trip boat isn’t directly comparable to the whole operation of a hotel boat but it does have some relevance in terms of home mooring. Something the Elgar apparently pays for which I’m not sure all their competitors on the canals do. JP

If a man is talking in the jungle and there are no women about to hear him, is he still wrong ?

People can always just moor there and let the Edward Elgar breast up. Only about 25 pasengers and crew crossing backwards and forwards across their boat all night, and a ladder/gangplank or two resting on the deck/roof. ?

I don't see CRT as a full blown charity. There record on preserving some parts of history isn't IMO good, provision for exercise is something of a band wagon they have jumped on to try to justify their existence. To me CRT are first and foremost a navigation authority desperately trying to gain money by pushing their "charitable status". For me a "conventional charity" is up front and says our purpose is to protect the lesser spotted inner mongolian newt and gets people to contribute because they want to save the newt. Good works to me is a clear single aim (not navigation authority, exercise park, wildlife, have, cycle race track fishing pond) such as the three I originally mentioned. When you are as diverse in your work as CRT you are not aiming as a charity you are clearly a diversified business. I suppose you might consider them as a collection of charities but I wouldn't.

Really good list, thanks for posting it. Tested it by looking up several of what I thought were obscure terms, sure enough they were all in there. Added to my favourites.

I shouldn't butt in, however the issue of licences and who should pay them is governed by the NAA. Simply in order to connect to the canal system the marina operator contracts with CRT that all boats within the marina are liable and pay the appropriate licence fee (with the threat that CRT will block the connection if they don't Seemples fertig

Just taken delivery and assembled the new sofabed for the boat. It increases the flexibility by increasing the sleeping accommodation from 2+2 (a king size double and 2 singles) to 4 +2 (a king size double, a small double and 2 singles). First impressions are it is very comfy as a settee and as a bed.

Couldn't care less. Picking unwinnable fights might boost someone's ego because they think they're being martyred,but it doesn't stop it being a damn silly thing to do.

You are absolutely correct - is there a way to edit the post, I can not see one? - Thank you

I think you may be right with some boaters useage. However for mine which is either plugged in so batteries become immaterial or we like year before last are ccing as in moving every day so the batteries get charged anyway. Maybe for someone on a permanent mooring without hook up they would pay for them selves but for me it would just be a waste of effort and money. No two boaters have the same use of batteries, even full timers not on hook up use different amounts of leccy for differing lifestyles. Some people even buy fully electric cars but I dont tend to park up in motorway service stations each time I visit my kids in Cornwall for ages charging my batteries

I fully agree with this, which is why I put my Li's in parallel with my domestic LAs. Very simple to take off a boat. That's exactly what we have just done. Sold a boat, took the Li's off leaving the existing LAs in place and put the Li's on the new one again in parallel to the installed LAs. Another advantage of this hybrid system is that you don't mess around with the existing batteries so installation can be done without loosing power for a day or more....and you don't need to know where all the existing wires go!!!!

If you had put this in the political section I could comment further but sufficient to say the warnings about standards when we left the EU seem to be being proved correct on this evidence - what's next I wonder.

Nice boat, looks mooocho nicer than a sewer tube and will be sooooooooooooo much more comfortable.

Google knows all! It knows what you had for breakfast, where you live, where you work, what you buy, your politics, medical history, deepest fantasies. A 30 year old shower mixer is child's play to Google. Expect to see little else but ads for thermostatic shower mixers on line for the next few months. ?

New Dawns front fender is gorgeous.

Ah, the memories come flooding back! I can almost taste the softwood wedges.

No, I don't believe boats moored in marinas should pay for a license whilst not using the system. I don't agree with the charge CRT put on the marina per berth either. It seems CRT want their cake and the ability to eat it.