Quaffer

Yes that's on the Silver Propeller list.?

Since January 2018,I have ticked off and photographed 18 ,so just 2 to go which will probably be Langley Mill and then the safe limit of navigation on the Warwickshire Avon.

FWIW I was doing a litter pick on the Hertford Union and on the Regents Canal between Mile End Lock and Broadway Market on Thursday and there are a lot less boats than usual on these sections.There were towpath gaps in all locations and not that much breasting up.I can only assume that a lot of Continuous Cruisers moved out of central London which marries up with my experience when moored in Berko just before the March lockdown ,when a steady stream of CC boats were all heading north at that time. So if you are planning a trip anytime soon ,mooring should be much less challenging that usual in the locations I passed recently in central London

It would be a shame to miss out on the Rising Sun in Berko if you like quality ale and a great pub atmosphere.The pubs around Boxmoor and Hamel are much less interesting. The Riser are doing takeouts at present. You can always stay on the 24 hours Limehouse Basin VM's overnight,interesting spot and into The Grapes (pub atmosphere) and Craft Beer Co. (ale).

I am aware of the issues at Marple on the Macclesfield Canal,but what is the problem with Marple Locks on the Peak Forest ?

I would imagine that it will only be certain staff members at CRT and trained volunteers who will be recording Inappropriate Mooring formally on the boat licence database. I believe a photo of the issue will be taken and possibly a yellow notice attached to the boat .The yellow notice initiative in London has been effective and may be rolled out further.Enforcement will be by Craft Licencing Support staff. They will judge if there are mitigating circumstances much as they do if a boater is overstaying.

At Stanstead Abbotts there are three boats displaying Winter Mooring permits ,all running through to mid March .The rest of the winter mooring there is pretty much full with Continuous Cruisers. CRT do weekly data collection on the upper Lee ,and there is a good turnover of CCers at this popular spot.

If you can recall the towns or villages where you did stop for a drink that may jog a few memories of the pub you visited.

Could the pub be The Brandy Cask,Pershore which sadly closed a few years ago. There was a riverside mooring,and I seem to remember some mock tudor internal decoration. The Star Inn next door still exists but has been heavily refurbed.It still has a toilet door in the position shown in the photo close to the window however ,so another suggestion. As I'm not local to that area,just a vague guess at this stage.

All Volunteer Lock Keepers are asked if they are planning to keep volunteering outside the "Boating Season" refering to the period 1st November to 31st March.In the London and S E Region a high percentage carry on throughout the year and stats are kept about the picture nationwide which I believe is close to 70%.

The OP should just contact CRT.

The boat name is currently War Horse.

Slightly off topic but how very true in all circumstances at Visitor Moorings.

I navigated down to Bradley Workshops in May and the dredging certainly made it a far easier journey.There was still some weed growth to the sides but again no problem.I was ticking off a Silver Propeller location and with the Great Western not too far away at Wolverhampton Top Lock,spent an enjoyable evening in there.So no idea how safe any mooring on the arm maybe.

Maybe those bins should also be removed ?

The removal of the open topped litter bins along The Regents Canal and Hertford Union has been a reasonable success and happened almost 2 years ago.Previously it only took about three boater black sacks to fill these bins,and once they started to overflow it ,just attracted more fly tipping safe in the knowledge that ultimately the whole mess would get removed. The litter bins were being abused but their removal seems to have altered some boaters behaviour as there is now no fly tipping these day where the bins once stood. Fountains do a regular towpath litter pick in the area where the bins were removed ,and this clears away cans,bottles and dog shit in bags. Letter box style litter bins still remain at Mare Street and Broadway Market and work fine,boaters can't stuff their black bin liners in the narrow gaps.

In the London & Southeast CRT region I believe the License Support staff (formerly known as Enforcement) keep a photo database of boats not displaying any identification (index number,license,name) along with a quite detailed description of that boat .This database is used by the data collectors to correctly sight such craft every 7 days. Any boat that pitches up in the region (either by cruising from other parts of the network ,or by being craned in locally) without any identification will be added to this database as soon as a photo can be obtained. IMHO it is a dangerous assumption to make that a boat with no ID can evade CRT's notice in London for very long. It may be the case that a lot of unlicensed boats in London have infact been refused a license by CRT and are now in the enforcement process which may ultimately lead to their removal.

In London & Southeast region Volunteer Lock Keepers are issued with name badges but this will give christian names only.However there is a rota for each VLK site ,so it is easy for CRT to identify which volunteer is on duty on any given day.There is also a sign in sheet at the location which is filled out before duty begins. Volunteer Mooring Rangers have photo ID which is a Boat Licence Customer Support ID card authorised by CRT Head of Boating. I do not know what ID is carried by CRT employees but my guess is that it relates to their function. Hope this helps

That's a good call and is about the nearest pub if mooring in the pound between locks 86 & 87 where most boats tie,there are a series of rings. Doc's Symposium is a micropub worth a visit .It's beyond the bus station.On an early July visit to Wigan both these pubs delivered some fine ale.

Yes that's me but I was unable to wind just above the bottom lock ,so reversed through the lift bridge and went around in the wide below the second lock.

To answer my own question this is how far I got.The bottom lock has a small boom above the top gates and is stanked off below by chunky boards. However no restraints on getting this far,although there was a lot of water coming down the flight.

I didn't realise,thanks for the info.

I noticed the restraining bolt and your conversation with CRT confirms what is going on here.This also may explain why the junction pound above can suffer with low levels,although I do take the point that a lot depends on how much feed is coming from the Wigan Flight. Given the water supply issues at Poolstock 1 & 2 this would be a useful place for volunteer lock keepers to be on duty but as there is a lack of toilet and wet weather cover,this probably rules it out as a site for volunteers.

There is something strange about this lock.I've been through twice to and from Liverpool recently and the offside bottom gate paddle seems to be blocked from fully closing by a piece of welded metal .Ascending you can certainly see quite a flow into the middle pound as the lock fills.Is this some kind of CRT water control method to feed water into the middle pound between Lock 1 and 2 by slowly emptying any full lock after an ascent ,topping back up the middle pound ?That may explain why the notices on Lock 1 are all about closing all gates and paddles after use,.

I am planning to navigate down the Dee Branch next week as part of the Silver Propeller challenge,going as far as I can before reversing back out.Has anyone else done this recently ? If so any wise words of advice ? Are any of these locks or moveable bridges locked up with anything other than a standard CRT key ?