SteveW

Hi David/all We only found out about the latest postponement last week and I've been tied up for the weekend with Etruria Canals Festival, hence no updates on the CUCT site. It's on my todo list by the end of today, actually. The developer submitted a number of fairly detailed documents rubbishing the viability of the restoration and (somewhat amusingly if were not so serious) suggesting that boats could use the river through Froghall, which have been responded to. We were recently fortunate in getting the support of David and Sheila Suchet, and our press release made the front page lead in the local paper a couple of weeks ago, as well as being picked up in media elsewhere. As you say the application has been pushed back several months in a row now. This is not uncommon in Staffs Moorlands and we wouldn't be surprised if it ran on a bit further yet, other applications in the area have not been dealt with after way longer than ours. The window for comments is extended each time the date changes, so at present people can respond on the website until 27th July. Here's the link http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/portal/servlets/ApplicationSearchServlet?PKID=142566 We are nudging towards 300 objections at present so please so feel free to add to that. There are some really good points in the recent CRT and IWA responses that you might want to refer to, both written after consultation with ourselves and we fully endorse everything that has been said. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the most recent submissions and responses. Thanks everyone for your support, we are far from done and dusted on this and every bit of support is helpful. Regards, Steve (Chairman, Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust)

I've already spoken to a number of WRGies who worked on Froghall and have since worked down at Crumpwood or Alton, where we have hosted three WRG reunions in recent years as well as a number of family camps and a dozen or so other camps. Their perspective is especially important as it demonstrates a long term commitment to restoring the canal so we are encouraging everyone to submit a comment, even if it is only a few lines. Cheers, Steve

Thanks all for comments so far. I think everything that needs saying has been said other that to correct a couple of errors in the information supplied by the applicant. The canal is not a non-designated heritage asset. It is on Historic England's list of monuments (number 305428.) We supplied information to the County Council (at their request) to get it added to their Historic Environment Record some years ago, but they have not input it yet. It also contains a globally unique and listed river crossing in Crumpwood Weir, so is of anything but a "low" significance. One of the key points about the Uttoxeter Canal is that because it closed so early, 1849, its structures tell us how canals used to function in that era. Everything else in the country has undergone another 170 years of "improving" which is why we have found ourselves looking at, for example, Carrington's Lock and wondering exactly how it functioned. Happy to answer any questions about the canal on here or you can check out the new FAQ on the CUCT website, which I am updating daily at the moment!

Pardon? Would you like to explain/justify that comment?

I'm a huge fan of night boating, but won't generally single-hand locks in the dark as its a risk I don't need to take. I've often planned trips to make sure I hit, say, the top of Atherstone or Tyrley at nightfall so that I can carry on as long as I want to. I have even been known to start before dawn (though this is definitely the exception not the rule!) What does irritiate me - and we've seen a bit of it on this thread - is people who associate engine volume with speed. My HR2 on tickover is louder than most new engines flat out but I still makes barely a ripple as I pass a properly moored boat. Despite this I do sometimes get comments to slow down from people who haven't even noticed their boat isn't moving

I've just spent an hour of my own time going through the video listing every image, the page it was taken from and who took the original photo. This was in response to YouTube's request for me to do this as part of our copyright claim. Why did I do this, and why am I posting here? Two reasons, one because our members deserve to have their copyright items, which were passed to us in good faith, protected to the best of our abilities and two, because every time this sort of thing happens another person decides they aren't going to share their images in public any more. There is some wonderful stuff out there, I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of amazing images from various collections in recent years. Sadly a lot of it will never be seen online because a number of people can't resist stealing things and claiming them as their own. I quite understand why anyone who may have spent a lifetime taking photographs would want their efforts recognised and protected. It's not even about money; it is about respect and courtesy.

As webmaster of the HNBC website, I have now filed a copyright abuse report with YouTube. Thinks to those who brought this to our attention. Regards Steve

Small world! I just registered on this site and this is my first posting. Apologies in advance for the length of this post but it maybe of interest... Martin recounts the details accurately. after a long dialogue, Dickinson sent me a new Adriatic stove which I (very cautiously!) fitted. It worked really well, in fact WAY better than the old one ever had. I'd never been able to cook on the old one as it wouldn't get hot enough. Actually the day of the fire was the day after an adjustment I'd made on their advice (I'd been in correspondence with them for some months about low output.) The conclusion we came to about the fire was that the metering valve had not been working for some reason and it suddenly kicked in and delivered a lot of fuel to the burner pot in a very short tine. After a year or so of using the new one, the heat output started to drop to the point where I could no longer cook in/on it. I've no idea why this happened as the flue was clear, fuel ouput seemed OK etc etc. Envisaging (rightly or wrongly) a repeat of the old problem, I stopped using it and planned to take it out, which I've still not quite got around to doing. I managed to pick up a cheap Kabola E5 on Ebay which I installed and is very reliable. The heat output is actually too high and I really would have to fit another radiator just to dissipate the heat on the minimum setting as it invariably overheats every week or so. not great when you live aboard and work full time! I don't really want to do this as the radiators I have are unsightly and take up too much space, plus I really don't need the extra heat so I'm thinking about the Dickinson again. I'm going to take the whole thing apart, clean it out thoroughly and get the metering valve serviced by Kuranda. At that point I'll give it one more go and if it doesn't do the trick it will go onto Ebay and I'll replace the Kabola with something else, possibly a Bubble stove or and Old English/dutch so that I won't need the radiators. Steve NB Bream