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I never got that far! For quite a while, three of us handled moddy duties - self, Magpie Patrick and the former Buccaneer. The arrival of two new ones, Jen and Ade, was succour indeed [as in, only a succour would do this job]/ Midway through last year I was, as Nicj Noeman says, beset by a truly exciting cocktail of eye conditions which made long spells of reading irksome. These are mow controlled by medicayion, and my eyes are not deteria...er, daterior...er, getting worse. I'm still taking part in moddy duties, but more in behind the scenes discussions than dront of house. Thanks!

I think we are in danger of confusing roles: of course, in a civilised society there should be in place mechanisms to ensure that everyone can have a waterproof roof over their heads regardless of their earning capacity. That is clearly the role of the state and is currently effected via the benefits system such as Universal Credit. It is also clear that this is not the role of CaRT who are not a housing authority and are not funded on that basis (OK, one can argue whether existing housing authorities are adequately funded but that is another matter) It is up to CaRT to determine what charges they need to make (especially licences and moorings as well as ancillary services) to balance their books - they are not a profit distributing organisation but to need to make a sufficient surplus from normal I&E to finance longer term depreciation etc (think reservoir repairs!). They can make decisions about how to differentiate between various categories of user and the current debate is mainly about those choices and how fairly they are made. At present, the largest differentiating factor is the size of the boat and some boaters may need to face difficult choices in that regard. They might like a 60ft widebeam for convenience of living but they might have to settle for a shorter narrow boat (such as David Johns' 'new' Sea Otter). Leaving aside questions about overcrowding, that is the choice that we all have to make as well as location - we mighty fancy a six bed house in Chelsea but have to settle for something a tad less posh! OTOH, some might want to argue that the cost to CaRT of a boat using their waters is much less connected to boat size than is embodied in current licence fee graduation. Tough! I think it is all but inevitable that CaRT have little scope for a policy that includes an ability to pay factor (any more than other private landlords) - their funding assumes that customers in that situation should apply for assistance through the benefit channels (which now usefully include licence and mooring) They have developed some limited schemes for helping boaters in short term financial difficulties but cannot address a long term problem. In any event, all of this tends to obscure the real challenge - to what degree does anyone have a right to use the canal network to live in one settled place at no charge? That is a reasonable point to debate (even if the current situation is pretty clear) but also that what some groups are aiming for is a bigger change than might at first appear to be the case. The eventual trade off might be one in which clearer arrangements for generally-cruising boaters are traded for stronger enforcements against those who would like a free permanent towpath mooring.

My thought is that DEFRA's view was that they could not support a TWAO proposing new legal powers for CRT which had been developed internally by CRT alone without any significant involvement from stakeholders (such as boatowners, representative organisations and local authorities) or from the wider public. If CRT wish to promote a TWAO they would first need to go through a process of setting out the shortcomings of the current position, and then identifying and assessing a range of different options, in consultation with interested parties and the general public, in order to develop proposals which would have, and be seen to have, a greater degree of buy-in from those affected. Only once such a process had been completed could DEFRA support a TWAO (or suitable alternative means) to take the changes forward. And in response CRT has instigated the Commission process to do just that. This process will have been agreed with DEFRA as a way forward that would address DEFRA's concerns and allow them to support the subsequent legislative changes.

There is actually a slightly ironic side to the London canals situation. Visitors ie people who use Boats for pleasure are being excluded and in some cases opt to pay good money to be assured of a mooring whereas those who are using the vessels as accommodation or even in some cases renting them out are getting the free moorings. That seems to be the wrong way around. Its not logical. The CRT probably do seriously need to make moves to eliminate or at least significantly change behaviours otherwise this problem could get worse. Its outrageous that people do not visit the capital city because they think they won't be able to find a mooring. The Regents canal is a wonderful heritage treasure of great worth which should be available to everyone not a select few who have the advantage of always being there.

There are 210,000 photos in the RCHS collections, and we have 37 volunteers (including myself, @Heartland , @1st ade and @magpie patrick ) working on the task of digitising, cataloguing and uploading the images to the Online Media Archive website. There are currently about 15,000 images available for everyone to view on the website (an increase of 5,000 in the last year !) but inevitably it is going to be a while before all images are online. Please bear with us !

Not sure how many days we have been " travelling," but we are making progress . Came through Saltersford and Dutton this morning and we are moored at the rowing club . Go onto the Ship Canal tomorrow morning. Another dry day but with a cold wind. The little rain we have had since we came down last week was during the night but we have a lot of cold winds. Good sitting at the fire weather 🙂

Athy, u meed to rake the dubber floves off!

I never realised just how much of the world is edible until I got a lab...

Thanks all for the replies to my good lady (OP also OAP) who's more proactive in posting than me. I'm inclined to go with 'hider' and use a grinder to make a flap on RHS to pull each battery through and then refix it when done. Else seek out a passing gorilla in the marina. Good lady here now, it will be interesting to see what we find when we go back to the boat and have a really close look. We would not be surprised to find the frame was fitted after the batteries, as we have discovered other short cuts/annoying things in the fit-out (we're not the original owners). Apologies for the poor photo, it was taken for my blog and not intended for diagnostics - I had forgotten about the forum 🙄 Many thanks all

Have had dogs or been involved with them on a daily basis for most of my life - haven't got one now as not fair on the dog at my age - they were all special but the two that were more special were the malinois my old man had and the black lab I had from a puppy - that one kept me on my toes for 15 years! Worked hard on the training for the first year (repetition, repetition, repetition) then had a superb companion for the next 14 years.

The OP is talking of replacing his batteries, so having (somehow) got the existing ones out he will be faced with the problem of getting the replacements in. Gravity will be working in his favour, but there will still be plenty of scope for trapped fingers etc while trying to lower them safely in. Which all suggests that the opportunity should be taken of reconfiguring the arrangements now, both to get the existing batteries out and replaced, and to facilitate future access.

My youngest son bought me one of these T shirts. Pretty much sums up labradors.

It got changed at some point. Don't know if it was the Invision software, or in the configuration the forum staff set up. All moderators can now get greenies. Even me!

No its cheap. A central London 1-bed flat is probably more like £25k a year. illustrates more clearly how stonkingly cheap it is to live on a boat in London dunnit?

Perhaps more a case of the SoS not wanting to be held responsible for increasing boating costs and making people homeless. It would have been a very conscious decision on CRT's part not to consult prior to TWAO application. Perhaps they were sounding out Defra regarding the possibility of walking the order through without a hearing or public enquiry.

The best advice I would give is to not be worried about other boaters and their offers to help. Yes its great to have help but last year, as an example, I had a problem at a lock when a log caught between the boat and the lock wall and the boat hung up. I would rather get off the boat and work the lock, even if there are other boaters offering to help. On this occasion I spotted the problem, dropped the paddle and then refilled the lock/flushed the boat free. The boaters waiting to come up didn't have a clue why I dropped the paddles-I shudder to think what would have happened had I been at the stern trying to communicate with them. I have had "helpers" lift all the paddles then walk off back to their boats or wander off to talk to their friends--I prefer to be on the lockside when the boat is in a lock and I'll work it myself.

Wasn't that pretty much the whole idea of setting up CRT in the first place? From the government's perspective at least ...

You had better put an invoice in to CART for your contribution to solving their housing problem.

Welcoming new family member Spud! This picture paints an entirely false picture of reality! 🤣

Ideal for the CMers then!

I can't understand why the mad trucker hasn't crashed in. Yes, I did say trucker. I suppose we have frightened another new poster away but if that is the standard of the posts we could expect, I do not care.

Why? What harm do they cause you? I could say more but no doubt a mod would take exception

It's all going to just fizzle out, just a storm in a teacup. It has been tried before 🥱🥱🥱

Why 'Spud'? Does he give other dogs a frite?

When I first read it I was trying to understand what the rto was / is and hence went on a search. I then posted I could not find anything 'sensible'. Reading it again a few minutes later it came to me that it was maybe a typo with an 'extra letter'. So many times folks are posting strange (unknown to me) acronyms and I try to understand them - when I cannot find them, I ask. It is very unfortunate that the world of texting has led the use of 'non-words'.

To get back to the thread title, I have been wondering the same thing. At one time he seemed to moderate the Forums singlehanded, but he last visited on Jan 23, and last posted back in November. I have met Mike several times (he accommodated my boat outside his house twice for a few days), and hope he is OK.

Maybe when @DandD has his batteries out Mrs @DandD will tell us about both.

Defra not DoT and probably more a case of Defra advising CRT that the Secretary of State would not agree to a wide ranging Transport and Works Act Order. These extracts from board papers might help explain - Defra have confirmed that "conversations" did place but CRT have asked that they remain confidential. TIPU have confirmed to that no application was made. My guess is that the "TWAO application that never happened" was a complete overhaul of legislation and CRT were advised by Defra that any changes needed should have been made back in 2012. It is difficult to see the Commission recommending that they go down the TWAO route again.

It must be a long time since you had a caravan. Last year we paid an average of £30 per night. ( ~£25 without electric hook-up) We also pay a similar amount for the boat for overnight moorings when visiting marinas So, your suggestion, for (say) a 20 foot caravan that would be £5 per night + (possibly) the amenity surcharge of £1 per night. Mind you - I guess if we rolled up with a 60 foot caravan we'd be charged a bit more. Roll on C&RT taking over the UKs caravan sites !

One alternative view -- which CART appear to be moving towards by increasing the widebeam surcharge -- is that the value of boat living to the boater is linked to the space inside the boat, just like it is for apartments and flats where in many places -- especially the UK -- prices and rents and taxes are proportional for floor area. On that basis -- which is easy to justify -- a 72'x7' narrowboat or a 36'x14' wideboat (or a 48' x 10'6" mediumboat) would all have the same license fee. And actually wideboat owners are still getting a good deal since a boat twice as wide has more than twice the usable width inside... 😉 The current situation is pretty clear -- boaters aren't allowed to live in one settled place at no charge, as shown by the rules for the "Continuous Cruising" exemption, which make it pretty clear that *wanting* to stay in one place for school/job/whatever doesn't mean you *can*, and that in these circumstances you should have (and pay for) a home mooring. The fact that more and more boaters do their best to ignore this -- with the vociferous backing of the NBTA! -- is what has lead to the formation of the commission, and is likely to lead to more severe restrictions on CCers -- which is unfair to "real CCers" (like many CWDF posters) who have been following the rules without problem for many years, but the blame lies with the "new CMers", not CART... 😞

Some more comprehensive photos, in focus, would be helpful...

The upper gates in 1977.

Cheers Alan, yes, I remember when Odin was a pup, I recall the pics. Your Dogs always look so happy! Spud is going to be trained to respond to some of my lads Autistic dysregulation and if his untrained influence is anything to go on, we’ve made the right choice.

He's around, I think. There are other mods.