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Lard is from pigs and generally white and softer than dripping. Dripping is generally from beef and is harder and creamy colour. I think there is a form of pork dripping ut I am not sure.

Yes I have to think about it a lot ! and much happier with the metric system. I can barely use imperial tools without a calculator to convert to metric. I learned the metric system at school ~60 years ago so I think it is time to send my dad's old stuff to the tip.

Dripping, not lard... ?

Isn't that how everyone cooked them before heart disease and oil became fashionable

Air fryer.

My Grandma used to make chips by cooking them in lard. Best chips I've ever tasted. She used to make potato cakes out of grated potatoes. They were sublime too.

Well here we are at Market Harborough 3 weeks into our first retirement cruise. Heading for the Fens and Great Ouse, then Birmingham and the Shroppie via Fradley to Langollen. If you see us passing please remove the tomatoes from the tin before throwing alternatively give us a wave.

Worth trying https://www.ecotimberpanels.co.uk/ too- used them many times and know others that do.

This is a huge subject and it could take 1000 answers to fully answer your questions. For example - A 'Rolls Royce' boat that cost £200,000 when new, if it has not been looked after, the engine regularly serviced, the hull maintained and repaired when necessary could be worth less than scrap value, whilst, a Springet boat that cost £10,000 when new, when mainteained properly could now be worth over £20,000. If you detail what you are looking for (liveaboard or leisure use, length, wide beam or narrowboat, budget etc etc etc) forumites will be able to point you to suitable boats. Currently boats are in such demand that they are selling without the buyer even seeing them. At best, you need to have the money in your hand and to travel to view within a couple of hours, wait until 'tommorow' and it'll be sold. If its not sold within a couple of days there is something seriously wrong with it. Many boats are not even getting to brokers websites. The broker has a list of potential buyers and will call them before the boat is listed - the 1st to view gets the chance to buy, the 2nd to try and view doesn't.

Grey cast iron should be cut at a surface speed of 50-80 feet per minute. A 22 inch flywheel has a circumference of about 5.8 feet, so should be turned at about 9-14 rpm. That sounds easily doable on the hand start. It is after all essentially what the machining boys will do.

I knew I was right to keep all my Whitworth spanners. We will once again lead the world in baffling drill sizes, rounded off nuts and Austin Allegros.

Which foreign country was that? Britain official adopted the metric system in early 1965.

Thanks all for the replies. I don't intend to have chips every day but as I was having chips with my tea it made me think about on the boat as and when the time comes. We will have a decent battery bank of 550 Ah and the engine will have a 175amp alternator for the house batteries so for an occaisional use we should be ok I think. Only oven chips I've tried are the McCain ones and I really didn't like them much, not tried Sainsbugs or Lidls but will do now so those suggestions are very much appreciated. Already make oven baked wedges (with a variety of spices etc) so it maybe that is what we'll do and just have chips as and when we eat out or visit a good chippy. At least that way we won't need to store a greasy pan or a chip fryer on board. I never leave a chip pan or any frying pan unattended, but you're right to advise caution. Must admit the risk has come to mind, particualrly given boats can move when moored. Oven chips, or more likely wedges, are beginning to sound like a better option

As I if in a pub drinking beer only drink draught I wouldn't be daft enough to ask for 330ml I would ask for either a half (it would be litre when we get sensible enough to use metric for beer) or a Litre.

I've done it from our sea-going widebeam (and I've towed other boats as well) You have a choice of a very long line, or a very short line. In the case of a canal boat I'd suggest that you actually go for very, very short lines crossed over and the bow of the tender actually pulled up tight to the stern button. Any length to the line, and, if going astern, would result in slack, and as the water is being sucked from the back of the boat it is almost guaranteed to pull the rope into the prop. If the rope is incorrectly tied onto the dinghy (ie tied onto the top of the bow onto a cleat) it can / will pull the bow down under the water, when towing. We had to put towing rings at around the water line (not a problem as its a rubber boat) and set back from the bow, so as to keep the bow lifted and riding over the water rather than ploughing into it. If you tie up on short cross-ropes than you can actually impart a bit of 'lift' into the bow. If the bow of the dinghy is allowed to swing about then a combination of wind and forward motion could easily end up with it being sideways and flipping as it is dragged thru the water. At least yours is a GRP tender so properly restrained it should not be subject to wind, which can easily flip the dinghy over (another good reason for removing the OB). In the end I actually hang it off the back of the boat - so much easier and problem free. Outboard lives on a bracket on the rail. I wouldn't tow with it in the boat. You just know it'll flip or something and the engine is gone.

If someone wants you to click on a YouTube channel which is monetised with adverts that you have to sit through, he's a salesman flogging you something. His videos may be good or they may be crap. His advice may be valid or it may be dangerous. The videos are a way of making money, no different from the rest of the vloggers etc. The title of this thread is pure social media clickbait. One does no harm. Plenty more out there, be a shame if the forum got clogged up with it, that's all. As I object to being force fed ads, I switch out as soon as I see one. It's not important enough to make an issue of, which is why I've not reported it to the mods as (probably) against forum guidelines, just commented here.

Absolutely this. We moor on the Grand Union, so hardly a backwater. I add a single spring when on my home mooring for any length of time, but otherwise 45 degree head and stern lines almost always suffice. If you throw in a centre line, then it's Rock and Roll time, and you can spend your relaxing hours with a red face shouting "Slow Down" at passing boats as so many seem to do!

Unfortunately there is little you can do as boats move. Do you have a permanent mooring or are you just tying up to the bankside and moving very few days ? What may help is if you learn to tie your boat up correctly using both bow and stern lines and spring lines as well. You see so many people who just tie up loosely and then jump out of the boat shouting slow-down as they come past you and its all down to bad mooring practice. Lines No2 and 3 are called spring lines and will stop excessive movement fore and aft, they should be manufactured from Nylon (not polpropylene) as they will act as shock absorbers. Lines 1 and 4 (which most people use) simply stop the bow / stern swinging out but do not stop any forward and backwards movement.