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Hi all, Just to advise that we have moved to a different server (VM) with more resources to try and further improve the search engine (VNC) on Canal World. The new server also has a more up to date operating system etc. This will obviously increase our running costs a little but feel it is necessary to ensure the stability of the site and to allow for future growth. Canal World is entirely funded by donations which are gratefully received by our members. If you enjoy using Canal World and wish to contribute towards the ongoing running cost of running the site, please click here. We will monitor over the coming days and may make some minor tweaks/adjustments to optimise the performance of the site. Should you notice any issues or have any questions, please let us know. Thank you RichM

The nearest B&Q or Wickes... "Cat parking southern portal of hardware tunnel" - original title of thread just in case it gets changed...

A case of i know what i said and i know what i meant...bit like when i told better half that the dog needed microwaving indtead of microchipping I am all for giving people a laugh!

A brief history : Even in the seemingly egalitarian world of boaters, there’s a social pecking order and this is rarely more pronounced than where Springer boats are concerned. Springer was a company based in the Midlands that began mass-producing cheap and cheerful live-aboard narrowboats in the 1960s. While their affordability allowed countless people to join the boating lifestyle, the standard of their construction is sometimes, perhaps unfairly, questioned by the sniffier residents of converted working boats or higher-spec residential craft. But there’s still something hugely endearing about the Springer. These are boats made solidly and entirely without pretension, and as a consequence Springer boats have provided a friendly and affordable introduction to the canal network for thousands of boaters. Sam Springer spotted the growing market for purpose-built live-aboard boats in the late 1960s when he was working as a steel fabricator making water tanks in Market Harborough, close to the Grand Union and River Welland. He decided to move into boat-building later claiming “I used to build water tanks, building boats is the same thing but in reverse”. Although his boats were well constructed, Springer had a reputation for using whatever steel was available, meaning that his hulls weren’t always as thick as they could have been. His approach can be summarised by the popular yarn that early in his career, Springer acquired some scrap steel that had once formed an old gasometer and drove back and forwards over it with a truck to remove the bend so it was flat enough to use. Because of such shortcuts, his boats were recognised as providing great value for money and his yard was soon knocking out 400 a year, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the market and at a much lower price than any competition. Springer boats were built to all sizes but most have two distinguishing features: a raised splash board at the bow and, less visibly, a v-shaped hull rather than the usual flat bottom. They were also among the first boats to be built entirely out of steel rather than with a wooden cabin. Springers do have a tendency to look a little boxy, which does nothing for their reputation among waterways connoisseurs, but they are still lovable boats with a colourful history that, as the years have passed, has lent them a certain rakish charm. Belying their reputation, Springer boats also appear to be impressively hard-wearing with thousands still in use despite the fact the company closed down in the mid-1990s. And Springer boats aren’t just confined to the English waterways – in 1990, the boatyard built the Typhoo Atlantic Challenger, a 37-foot craft shaped like a bottle that crossed the Atlantic from New York to Falmouth. Not bad for a company whose first boats were made from a scrapped gasometer.

You were lucky. Our Norman 17 slept four regularly and five occasionally

This guy is having trouble with the hull of his Springer. Will give you an insight to whats needed to repair a hull on a V bottom boat.

I asked a fabricator that question, the answer I got was that there were other problems using Corten and he would not entertain building a shell from it.

There are steels that corrode more slowly than plain common Bessemer mild steel. Open hearth steels and pure iron corrodes less. Corten steel is even more resistant, they make containers from it. A lot depends on the quality of steel used, shipbuilding steel to EH36 is less corroding but there are many specifications. Maybe your builder had some better specified steel available than mild steel.

They have just gone through Bramwith all ok. All the best👍

Freeman did a wide beam at 7ft 6 and a narrow beam at 6ft 10

Cross-purposes here? Possibly you are referring to Sykehouse, while the post you are answering is about Thorne. There is no lock-keeper at Thorne. There are bridges at both, though - Sykehouse in the middle of the lock, and Thorne just above it. Both have to be operated correctly.

Which of course is absolutely as it should be. Unfortunately they are not all like Paul and Albert.

Summer days on the Canal de Bourgogne, maybe around 2003, seen here on the western side, some way above Tanlay. A great canal in parts, particularly on the higher stretches, as at Pouillenay, in Photo Two

I thought you'd made a typo there and was referring to his other half....I thought it described her quite well........

That old chestnut? Well there's this: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/original/43839-general-terms-and-conditions-for-boat-licenses-june-2021.pdf Backed up by https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/10-11/46/section/43 Now we all know that this legal approach has been disputed by some boaters, but it has not (to my knowledge) been challenged in court with regard to overstaying on short term visitor moorings.