Mike Todd

Happened to me a few years back at Tilston Mill.. It was not until we neared Bunbury that I realised I left windlass at previous lock. Tied up and ran (I could, almost, in those days - no longer alas) I knew that another boat has passed us in the pound and they had started down. Windlass nowhere to be seen. I asked if they had seen it. Sheepish dash inside and out came the windlass, "Thought no-one wanted it!" I was not sure what pleased me more, getting the windlass back or seeing the sheepish look!

Until Keadby Rail bridge is fixed, it is a bit isolated down south

Have you found a definitive explanation for the name Longford Engine? (the pub) I do know that the pub had several names at different times and that some people assume the name reflects the mining activity nearby. Also, why has Exhall Basin closed?

The ISBN is, to me, the most inventive and 'clever' taxonomic coding system - the post code is the second best. It does not make it to the top slot because it has evolved in a pragmatic way which means that there are a lot of special cases that hide the complexity of precursor post code systems having to be embedded as well as being not entirely geographic in its criteria.

I suspect he meant the outcode ie the part before the space. The second part, after the space, is called the incode and indicates that it is used to sort mail for delivery, ultimately coming down to to a walk (the full second part) The incodes are designed to have a similar work load for a delivery postperson and so can vary in geographical area between rural and urban situations. The most frequent changes are the creation of new postcodes to cover new developments are a whole estate was previously an empty field.

A 'proper' lockie once told me that boaters doing this are very much not liked as he believed that it washed up debris behind the gate. Told me not to do it (but I wasn't anyway - at least not at that point!)

Hawkesbury is an important boater services location, even if its water flow is incredibly slow. Not another going north for some while. What is really annoying is that there is now nowhere officially to stop to use the service block close at hand. The block itself has a sign that implies that the place expected to be used is just on the Coventry towards the city centre. However that is now reserved for CaRT work Boats. Immediately after are VMs and a waterpoint. You may well have to stop after the footbridge. Outside the Greyhound is the obvious place but the bank next to the service block is not suitable on various counts. No-one seems to have taken an overall view of space allocation (I make no comment about the trip boat - passed them twice yesterday but at least they were not moored outside the pub) Regarding turning out, kit seems to me easier when going south than north. I think this is because the bridge hole is quite wide and coming from the stop lock the boat is naturally already pointing in direction of turn. Most people turning north dont think of this and go through the bridge at right angles, but there is room to do more of the turn before going under.

Why should the postcodes have had to get the county 'right'? At the top level they have been around longer than some local authorities. In any case, postcodes were designed only for one purpose - organising the sorting and delivery of mail items. Anyone who uses them for anything else does do at their own risk and on those terms.

I banned myself - harder to ignore! (Sad, as that was how I was first taught to work a lock in 1967)

Oyr experience too.

Deleted as point made later by someone else

I do not see Arthur's approach as at all laissez faire and it is not fair to label it as such. There are several factors that need to be watched when locking through, several equally important for safety reasons. Not all can be attended to simultaneously. Therefore choices have to be made, depending on your assessment of the relative risks. As I see it there are various equally valid ways of doing things and it is not helpful to denigrate those who make different choices from one's own. But then, I have only been boating since 1967 and am still learning every day. Can still get it wrong!

AIUI it is an important element in certain faith cultures.

The older option which can still be found in a few places, was to install a round metal bar attached to the bottom of the balance beam with a ring and eye. But lethal at times but at least it is less likely to be hijacked. Wooden type used on top three locks of Droitwich at Hanbury.

see https://www.facebook.com/100086676549669/posts/sale-agreedcongratulations-to-heidi-the-rum-wench-who-found-love-in-the-form-of-/622699310629282/ but who believes anything on social media? (perhaps with good reason) Which is why I originally made the comment in a cautious tone

Perhaps it was years of under priced insurance?

I thought I read that it it was sold already .

My vote is for Waterway Routes. I buy the pdf format, print off pages and then laminate two pages backed and then put into an A4 display folder. I also keep the pdf on most of the desktops of the machines I use. One of the crucial factors is the detail on usable moorings on the towpath. I use that at least daily. My only worry us now that the sole owner has sold bhus bost will he still be able to keep it up to date or will it go like Nicholsons did for some periods. It issued surprising just how much changes over quite short times.

They don't have slackers on the BCN - only paddles.

They were getting away when we passed earlier but only about 5 or 6. The number of boats going up Napton was a concern, at capacity as we came down. However water seemed to being fed from Engine Arm as locks were running weir from there down but not quite at Marston Doles. Quite a bit if evidence that CaRT are trying hard to balance levels but large variations in traffic do not help. Nor does encouraging boaters not to work turns in a flight.

Yes, confirmed by volly at Claydon. Something in one episode suggests a guess at this. It is said that it took hour and half to film the few seconds of the piece about the numbers and message board!

We moored overnight around that point last Spring with no problems. See https://nbalchemy.blogspot.com/2024/05/staying-in-chester.html

But they acted after a report into deaths from CO entering a boat from an adjacent one.

It was over the weir at both those locks yesterday morning. I notice that the stoppage does not give a reason for tte level drop. I guess there is a little more to the story . . .

It sounds silly but I can guess that the 'must have CO but optional smoke' (if real) lies in the root intent of the scheme - the protection of others. CO failures are known to kill nearby boaters. Fires also but the general advice is that, despite requirements re extinguishers, never attempt to put out a fire before escaping outside. Smoke detectors are not required to sound such that neighbours will hear them, nor indeed CO ones. It is also the case that rule changes usually happen incrementally - if an proposal to add CO resulted in a comprehensive review of the whole scheme then I suspect it would be even more unstable than it already is. Rule changes are usually sticking plaster responses to specific cases and may well lead to higher levels of safety in the particular case than was originally accepted in other items.