Gillie

Good idea mike...do you want the 8 inches for your bathroom??

I think it is a shame that you are looking at it so negatively as a place to avoid.. the festival is lovely..full of life and colour..good places to eat and drink ..canalside stalls..music and friendly chat.. surely at least some of that is worth mooring 10 mins walk away..

Picture of the offending slime

Night club arm as you call it (St Augustines Reach) is a great place to moor..have moored there every year for last 8 years and never had any trouble or sleepless nights because of noise..

Who said anything about pretending to be anything else?... And how do you know the ways of tying in the books are not the traditional way?.. as far as I know there is only one way to tie a diamond knot and a star knot. etc etc ...so I think it is a wrong assumption to say the original methods are discarded.... sure they can be used in different ways in finished items but as I said before you need the basics for tying before you can make anything.

It depends what you think of as an error... I would imagine ropework would be an ever changing thing to suit your purposes..even in the 'old' days of working boats.. And I would defy any beginner to tie the lovely knots in the pictures above..you have to get the basics first and then go on to create masterpieces if that is what you want...and that is where the books come in.. It is lovely to keep the traditions alive but surely they came about through years of evolving and each crafter having his or her own style..it would be a shame if we now all got stuck just making the same thing and not evolving because of some notion that there is the 'proper' way and that is the ONLY way..

Des Pawsons Knot Craft is really good although a little hard for a beginner to follow in the later stages I used it successfully in conjunction with the RYA book mentioned below Creative Ropecraft by the late great Stuart Grainger is the best book for explaining I have come across in several years of knot tying. The RYA Knots Splices & Ropework is good for basics and has a decorative section at the back which includes the pattern for doing Cabin strings from Ken Nelson and is really easy to follow. For completeness The Ashley Book of Knots..not cheap but can be found online..I got mine in the Autumn at Foxton in the lovely gift/food shop at the bottom of the locks..hard to follow but wonderful to look through. You quite often see ropework books from Geoffrey Budworth around and online..I have found them the hardest to follow and would steer clear of them! Hope that helps..good luck..& if you want anymore info on books/supplies etc PM me

Oh my goodness Laurie..yet another embarrassing picture of us all..Dave is certainly showing a lot of chest..expect it was for the pink boat with the pink balloons on moored next to us !!!

Yes i agree with you..they did have time and from what I heard a lot of people did remove their things..but yesterday and today other possessions were taken like bikes and elsan trailers..that is the thing that is really wrong to me..My daughter visited and left my grandchild's buggy outside the boat for about an hour..if I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time that could have been taken..to my mind I that seems like theft. Also if you see my original post on the matter you will see that some things have been taken from permit holders moorings too..so all the little permit holders gardens/log stores /washing lines etc etc that I see all over the canal system might also have their things removed, if this is as you say, somewhere to make a start.. Anyway it seems that the said bit of towpath that is being 'cleared' is earmarked for widening and hard surfacing..no doubt so the cyclists of Bath & the surrounding area can do their time trials on it..

This was not a litter pick up it was a planned enforcement of CRT policy of nothing on the towpath..which I don't really question..but I do question why it is different for the K& A as opposed to other canals ... People had had notices stuck on items to be removed over a month ago..BUT when they came to remove the 'things' they also took everything & anything that was there on the towpath. Maybe the dog bowls were for the owners dogs..but I know ( as a dog owner) that people do put a bowl out for passing dogs to drink from and very welcome they can be too especially in the summer months..it just strikes me as being really petty to take such an innocuous item.

It is not 'just' junk..and not just from CCers ..one lady who pays for a disabled mooring has had her trolly used for taking her elsan to the elsan place removed..she is working on getting it back but how can that be right ? This year we have travelled hundreds of miles and I have walked past countless mooring sites with gardens..piles of logs/coal ..picnic tables and loads of other stuff on 'their' moorings..why should it be different on the K&A?...I don't hear of CRT removing stuff from Uxbridge moorings where there are sheds and gazebos on the towpath. I know people 'take the piss'..but I am sure if CRT start getting Fountains to remove stuff from the K&A it won't be long before it happens in other places...and I guess lots of people here have permit moorings with 'stuff' on the towpath..maybe they won't mind having their belongings taken away?

The Titanic brewery pub at the top of the town is the best.... Stone is an ace place to moor...especially if you are there for the farmers market..best one I have ever been to..

Dave and I were on her the other week while staying in the docks.. We became friendly with the guy who was living on it and he showed us around.. So very very sad it was a lovely ship inside and out.. I hope Chris the guy who lived on her( and drives the little trip boat around the docks) is ok..

Don't know if you are still looking to make some...as only just seen this.. I make 3 drop & 2 drop ones and learned from the RYA book of Knots Splices & Ropework..the 3 drop cabin strings in the book are by Ken Nelson with very clear instructions and diagrams.. I use 14 mm cotton rope I get from the lovely Karen at Tradline in Braunston... If you do have a go and get into difficulties message me for help!!...

Great pictures Laurie...far far too many of me though...this is my fav one ..we are so juvenile!! https://www.flickr.com/photos/lovestruck94/18393103935/in/dateposted/ Was a great weekend and loved the Ma Pardoe's trip :-) Hopefully see you on our way back..xx

Hi Nick...Dave said about your troubles with the Apple lovelies..I have used both my IPad and the MacBook lots of times whe. On travel power as the engine is running and both are fine... Getting washing machine today so fingers crossed! My old now broken one did that too in the Thames locks..hope the new one copes with it..or else I will have to remember not to wash on the Thames..

Our washing machine died today so looking for a new one.. We run our mains electric from a travel power system as we run the engine Has anyone any experience of using a washer on a travel power and if so what make of washer was it? Our last washer was a Servis and worked fine for 7+ years on the travel power untill today... Thanks

We used to live in Southampton and drive up to the boat all the time before we started living on board and had a berth at Newbury (Ham Mill) Boat company.. It used to take us 45 minutes on a good day and a hour when the A34 was stuffed... so Winchester you could probably do in 1/2 an hour.. I guess it is not North of the Thames though which is what you stipulated

We moored about a mile after the bottom lock on the Stourbridge flight..I think it was near middle bridge.. Was very rural and felt safe..had a pleasant night..then went through Stourton Junction next morning

Got stopped dead in Gosty Hill tunnel last year by a tyre round the prop so had plenty of time to watch the roosting colony of bats near the Hawn basin end of the tunnel.. There were a lot of bats!!

Report here saying a body has been recovered..also says guy was on roof of boat...surely is not possible not sure if there would even be room to kneel.. Hope this is just newspaper mis reporting.. http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Police-search-Harecastle-Tunnel-man-fell/story-21117156-detail/story.html

All the knowledge that the Thames Lock keepers have will be lost..most of them know every bit of their reach intimately and can advise about moorings..pubs..safety and anything else you might want to know about the water up or downstream. The Thames is a wonderfully benign river in the height of a dry summer, but when we went down last year late October from Oxford to Reading ...just off yellow boards and then got stuck at Dorchester and then Benson Lock when it went back onto red boards.. we were so relieved to be able to talk to the lock keepers who advised about levels and which side of the wire streams had the least current etc..would not get that from an automatic lock operating terminal..

Totally agree with you..I really miss Paddy and the locals and the sofa with the books.. We went in the Three Swans the other night and was pleasantly surprised that a..they let the dog in and b..it was full of friendly locals and bar staff.. so maybe that will be our place to goto.. well when Dave has had his free pint anyway!!

If you mean have we told CRT about the water pouring over the gates I guess they know as they are in their hut keeping warm and dry just next to the lock! Here is a picture of the water coming over the gates and that is with the bottom paddles open too.. It is starting to come over the towpath as well, as the River Dun above the lock has burst it banks..

We usually do the flight on our own as always seem to be there when there are no boats in sight!.. You can set the locks pretty far ahead in the thick (Locks 29 to 44) as you can see if other boats are on the move or not. If we do share with another boat we don't tie together but usually work as a pair as it is less time consuming going in and out together and much more fun!! There is as someone said above ..there is one lock ( I think it is 41 but not sure) that is narrower than the rest and you have to single out to go in and out but there are signs on the lock above about it so you are warned... Hope you enjoy it ..it is a wonderful and very enjoyable experience!..