black sheep

After 10 years on the Leeds & Liverpool we are considering relocating our 52' narrowboat to either the Lancaster Canal or the Scottish Lowlands Canals. Does anyone have any opinions that might put us off such a rash decision?

According to CRT notices passage through Leeds could be tricky early April. The navigation is closed until 13th April at Knostrop and Crown Point. I have been trying to get clarification from CRT without success as we were hoping to go the other way in March/April.

7 and a half hours on a good day, weather and traffic permitting. Planning to change marinas this year so it will then be over 8 hours.

Does anyone know if the planned renewal of Niffany swing bridge is going ahead? Its on the winter stoppages list but it was also on the list last winter and nothing was done. We are planning a trip in March and the timing depends on whether or not we can get through Niffanys.

Must be a while since you did this bit of canal as The Hole in the Wall was demolished 3 or 4 years ago!!

Best real ale pubs on the stretch between Barlick and Apperley Bridge are The Fountain, Barlick Cock and Bottle, Skipton Robin Hood, Silsden Fishermans Inn, Dowley Gap Wouldn't recommend the pubs in Gargrave.

Well I wouldn't recommend the food at the Anchor, but the real ale is consistently pretty good. I would recommend The Fisherman's Inn on the L&L for food and real ale.

Thanks for that folks. So as long as it is not foam backed and is brown and white to match the dog, I should be OK. All that remains is to get the old carpet off. Naturally it is glued on!

I know there are a lot of people who don't like carpet on the walls up to the gunwales but our boat has it and I rather like it. We are planning to replace it with more carpet. Does anyone have any idea what sort of carpet should be used? Wool or man-made, foam or fibre backed, short or long pile etc?

If you get the chance to stop overnight at Dowley Gap, I can recommend the Fisherman's Inn. It is right next to the canal and the real ale is as good as you will find on the L&L. Food pretty good too, especially the Sunday lunches. There are moorings right outside.

According to the local lock keepers, it is years since the waterbus operated. It's just a case that no-one can be bothered to move the sign.

A word of warning - I had a similar problem of my laptop not charging using the 12v cig lighter socket so tried it with the engine running. Result - a burnt out motherboard and a new laptop. I had recently had a new alternator fitted and apparently it was producing voltage spikes which the laptop couldn't cope with. I won't be buying a 12v charger for the new laptop.

Thanks so much for that cheery news and why am I not surprised?!! I presume this is your crap builder that went bust? Any more horror stories about them? I tried to find out about them before buying the boat but got nowhere - I didn't know about this forum then. I must admit, the fitout looks fantastic at first glance, but the workmanship is a bit lacking when you look closely. It's not the end of the world, still love the boat!

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I shall investigate further next time we go to the boat. The boat is a Reeves hull and was fitted out by Aynho Wharf, so I thought it would be fairly good, but the insulation is polystyrene so it may have degraded. Just hope it doesn't involve too much work, or should I say expense!