Andrew Denny

My father never swore, until the last decade of his long life (died at 90 in 2008) but he often used to say "Christmas!" as a polite way of saying "christ!" I think Gordon Bennett caught on for its hard consonants, which are good for expostulation.

I know the story of the original J. Gordon Bennett fairly well. One story was he got blackballed for getting drunk at one posh do, and urinating in the fireplace. One legend was that Citizen Kane was modelled on him, not William Randolph Hearst. Orson Welles once said in a documentary that after the film's premier he got in a lift with Hearst, who frostily ignored him. Welles laughed about it and said "If Hearst really had been the original for Kane he would have shaken me warmly by the hand." Anyway, I was wondering about Ian Grieve, who pops up regularly in the Grauniad with these amusing aperçus

Is this the Gordon Bennet/t on CW? Always amusing letters in the papers.

I see there's a new 4-part series on Channel 5, Britain by Steam, featuring John Sergeant and Peter Davison among others. Steam tug Adamant features in it. Who runs Adamant and can I contact them? Was hoping to get a picture & a story of what it was like. Thanks

Thank you so much for your comments. I have since managed to get hold of the Away Services boat (which itself doesn't do facilities at the moment, despite Google saying it does). But the lady there kindly contacted the Sherborne Wharf private no that she had on her phone, and apparently services at the Distillery are only available 9-12noon, not later. I should have turned up before 5pm and shouted 'But Google is my friend!' at them, shouldn't I.

Goliath, thanks so much for the tip! I've since managed to get hold of Away Services, who said they didn't do diesel/pumpout, but she phoned Sherborne's private no for me and they told her the facilities are only open 9am - 12, no later. I can understand that, they don't want diners to inhale boater's, er, fumes, but it's 4 years since I came this way and I had forgotten. But it was the mobile no on the hut I was looking for. I will need to make a note for future reference when I arrive. Afterwards I'm headed down Farmer's Bridge and to the northern BCN afterwards, facilities even fewer on the ground there. Since it's still winter, I wanted to ensure I'm well 'bunkered up' in case I get stuck in ice or something.

Thanks, but Google is not my friend. I've not used those facilities in 4 years, pre-covid, when I recalled I had to ring a mobile number displayed on the hut, and arrange for someone to come round when they were available. The number you list is the old Sherborne Wharf number I already had, which I rang twice this morning, and it rang each time for 8-10 rings before an answering machine only gave boat trip departure times then hung up. Since there's no full Sherborne Wharf any more and I've not been there, I wasn't surprised. Anyone knows what the mobile number is that's displayed on the hut? I'm not there yet, but I wanted to call in advance. before being told to wait for a couple of hours. Thanks.

Anyone know the phone number for the canalside diesel/pumpout facilities for Sherborne Wharf in central birmingham? I wanted to call in advance before I arrive and check on opening times. Thanks..

Ah, but I think it's more complex than that. For example, they may be classifying the scene (e.g. weather, if there's a boat, whether there are humans, vegetation, dogs, if water is visible, etc etc. Your ranking won't necessarily be seen in simple like/dislike terms, but according to what's in the picture. It might be that photos with boats score more highly or lower, people might prefer pics with or without people in them etc. For example, what if pics with children in rate more highly? Your simple ranking will knit with others to deliver conclusions that perhaps you never realised might in the aggregate form different conclusions from your simple 1-10 ranking. That's what (to me) could be fascinating!

"boat dumped" - harrumph! 🙂

I don't know. I will ask Wendy. But I've just learned of another MP at the meeting: Suzanne Webb, MP for Stourbridge, plus a staffer for another (5th) MP (unnamed) (although no peers). I'm told that's pretty good going for the APPWG. One thing I'm personally worried about is all these are Conservative MPs, and it would be good if more opposition MPs attended, to get a cross-party consensus.

Opposite the mooring, on the towpath is a 10ft dry stone wall. Last week two 10m ropes tied together barely reached to the towpath to allow those three beefy guys to pull, and they couldn't get a proper purchase. I would need a third to reach higher to the trees/field above. My friends are themselves not very strong. As I said at the start, what I'm hoping for is to snag a passing boat.

Ha, you anticipated the danger of the t-stud coming off too. Yes, it's got to be gentle, steady and coordinated. But I have to go forward and slightly outward.

It also could snap off my front T-stud. Once, going down the Great Ouse from Denver to do a Wash crossing, the pilot tied my boat up to another nb as a breasted pair. One of the boats hit ground on a river bend, and the stress pinged my T-stud off, and it just missed me!

Sounds cool, thanks but I will need to get another rope (maybe two), the nearest tree is about another 60 feet away.

Unfortunately there's nothing within roping distance of the bow. Nothing across the canal on the other side to fasten to, either. The boat is stern-in to a small layby, and can't reverse any further (even if I wanted to). The only way is forward and out. Believe me, I'm stuck. My solution is another boat going past that will pick up my bow rope and give a good tug. Even flushing a lockful of water from the lock above won't work, because the lock above is nearly a mile away. Were I to do that, the surge would dissipate by the time it reached my boat and be lost through the spillweir on the lower lock 1/4-mile away, let alone by the time I returned to my boat 20 mins later. Alternative solutions when I return tomorrow: Remove stuff in the engine compartment, the mattress in my rear bedroom, etc. But it's that other boat going past that I really long to see...

Now, Spanish Windlass, that is a new one on me. (*hurriedly googles it*)

Well, I doubt they'll bother to read our comments, they'll only look at the scores on the rate this scene

Tank is almost empty. but the stern is the problem. Look, I'm not asking for tips, I've been stuck many times before, not in these circumstances. What I'm asking is, are there any boats that might be going past this weekend that could oblige with a not-a-euphemism tug? Thanks.

Nope. Tried it all last weekend, inc 3 beefy men on the towpath on the other side trying to pull me off (not a euphemism). Stuck fast. I've been stuck often before, never like this! When I return to the boat this weekend I will try removing stuff from inside, emptying the last remains of the water tank etc. The issue is, when I moored up 12 days ago, I didn't think at the time how unnaturally high the water level was - and as I moored, the boat was already close to being stuck. 2-3in of water level drop (to normal levels) has really put it aground. I need a good tug! (Tirfor might help)

No just 2-3in. A bit of rainstorm higher up the Stour valley the weekend before last, and a lot of water cascaded down the pounds from Stourton Junction. I tied up on a friend's private mooring, which hadn't been dredged for some years. RCR won't rescue me as part of my membership (I'm safely moored, the pound is now normal) and there are no CRT workboats around to help. I've got to wait for a boat to turn up who's willing to stop, but at this time of year there aren't many and I don't know when a boat will appear or whether the boater will be willing to help out. CRT will be there at Christmas (they are replacing Wolverley lock gates from 3rd Jan, the only works on the S&W this winter.)

Will anyone boats be passing Wolverley Lock on the Staffs & Worcs in the next few days, who could help me in trying to pull my boat off the mud? I arrived about 10 days ago and moored up above the lock, not realising that at the time the water level was much higher than normal. I returned a few days later to find the boat stuck, as the water level had gone down (to normal). I will need a tow/tug to break free of the mud!

As I understand it, it doesn't matter if you find the scenes ugly or the pictures dull. The point of it is for the boffins at the University to learn what is considered attractive in canal scenes.

Apart from Fabricant, the only two other MPs were Wendy Morton (short-lived chief whip but genuinely keen narrowboat owner on the BCN) and Heather Wheeler, the magnificently statuesque MP (ministerial status uncertain). This was disappointing, I must admit. I thought the whole point of the APPWG is to get MPs lobbying the govt ministers.

Thanks, I know I snatched a photo of it somewhere not long ago, but can't remember where; I have so many photos but needle in a haystack to find the relevant pic. I'm charmed by the enthusiasm of various boatbuilder supporters, rather like, say, Morris Minor fan clubs. Fox Boats is another with fans.