Ratzend

Yes, those are the words quoted in the paper. Apparently quoted from a Zurich spokesperson. 'Navigators and General' covered the cost of the salvage.

I read with sadness the thread about the nb Little Nell that sank near Rawcliffe Bridge at the start of the year, there seemed to be some question about the newspaper claim that there were 15 foot waves and it would seem that must have been exageration. I was even sadder to read in the latest Towpathtalk that they were not covered by insurance in the end. The insurance company covered the cost of salvage but "declined Mr Brown's claim for his boat as we found that it had not been kept in seaworthy condition. it is a requirement of the insurance policy that the insured does everything possible to adequately maintain and safeguard their vessel" Out of interest and for my own future reference does anyone know what specifically they failed to do that gave the insurance company their reason for refusing to pay out? Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, I couldn't find it, but reading the whole article seems to intimate that 'regular servicing', or maybe in this case lack of, may have lead to their present sad situation and some negating clause for the insurance. They obviously believed at the time they were covered.

Frequently towards the ones they love because they are easy and often forgiving targets. In moderation I believe alcohol actually has medicinal properties. Obviously the same cannot be said about smoking. I was musing during the night about the period when there was huge debate about mobile phone safety. If that had proven to be true, and I gather there is still ongoing research, the government would have been pressured by the communication barons because of the vast sums involved, not to prohibit their use. They may have been required to put labels on the phone packaging warning that use of the device could cause illness resulting in death but I wonder how many would still continue to use them despite the warnings! Not a very good analogy with smoking but it started me thinking!

Thanks, the name doesn't ring a bell but then I would have been very small at the time !

I think, from what I have seen and heard, it is frequently down to a mixture, just smoking weed is no longer enough. Very true about different drinks, on the occasions that I do have a drink it is normally malt whisky, and it makes me feel mellow, which is why I choose it I have friends who can drink beer until the cows come home, but one whisky and they change beyond recognition. Thankfully most of them realise this and avoid it.

Great photos Laurie Do you know where the third photo was taken? The raised platform with a chain drive? It seems to ring some bells way back in the dark vaults of my youthtime memories!

I was always a bit surprised at the low number of Old Holborn users, and I will certainly miss the smell of a newly opened packet, I think it may be to do with the honey I think they use in the process. It didn't help that I also had friends who didn't smoke but said they were happy for me to smoke because they liked the smell !!! I have gone with a company called Skycig, they often have offers and their system seems very handy, it is like a small box the size of a cigarette pack which is in itself rechargeable. The pack holds the 2 cigarette bodies and a number of replaceable cartridges, so everything is together. I don't know if other makers do this but the ones I have seen just seemed to have a loose cigarette and a charger lead. When you use their offer you can get the whole lot for £10. I would not have been so keen to use some of them that seemed to cost £50 upwards! They have also just started doing Cinnamon cartridges which are supposed to also cater for the sweet tooth!!! Maybe I will be able to kill two birds with one stone !!!

It is presents like that that make you remember someone all your life.

Thank you! I will plug in my usb ciggy and have a puff to celebrate

Thank you! Very interesting and great words of encouragement. I will get there, I am certain of that The other battle I have is that, for me, it is not just the nicotine addiction. I have always rolled my own cigarettes, and always used Old Holborn tobacco. There is also the whole 'ceremony' of rolling a cigarette? I often just roll a cigarette but not smoke it if the situation is inappropriate. I couldn't smoke 'normal' cigarettes if I tried, I have tried one or two and really didn't like them at all!! And if they would stop making Old Holborn I would have given up years ago! It also means that it is not that expensive. Many years ago I worked for a very up market Mercedez Benz dealership in London. I was often called to sit in on board meetings. After one of the early meetings the MD who was very 'old school' and very particular, took me aside and said that whilst he appreciated that I had a very attractive leather tobacco pouch, and a Dunhill lighter, the board room was not really a suitable place to be smoking hand rolled tobacco. I pointed questioningly at the fat Monte Cristo he always had stuffed between his fingers. We remained very good friends from that day until long after I moved on :-)

Thank you!

At 61 I have smoked most of my life, I have never attempted to give up until recently and am now using a combination of cutting down and electronic cigarettes. The main problem I have is that I simply don't want to give up, I still enjoy it too much. I acknowledge all the proven dangers and associated effects and for that reason I have now decided that it is time to stop. I would like to think that I have always been what might be regarded as a 'considerate' smoker and have avoided as much as possible affecting those around me. I was in the Liverpool Royal a few weeks ago for a non smoking related treatment and I was really hammered by a young junior doctor because I had put smoker on my details form. Even though I explained that I was in the process of winding down she became quite aggressive and critical about the fact that I ever took it up in the first place and had never tried to give it up. She quoted several elder members of her family that had died from what could have been smoking related illnesses. At one point her attitude became almost offensive and it was quite embarrassing. I had pointed out to her that I had understood that there was no defence for smoking and wasn't trying to make one. A far cry from a day in 1967 when I was in Dover Hospital with a ruptured kidney gained from a football match playing against Rickett and Coleman workers. The surgeon sat on the end of my bed explaining my situation, he lit a Senior Service and offered one to me. The matron of the ward, who was quite a dragon most of the time, appeared with a second ashtray, in those days ashtrays were supplied by most beds. As I have said, I have no defence to offer about the effects of smoking, and I feel very sad when I see young people smoking today but I do get frustrated with the increasing number of people I meet who when being told that I am giving up then immediately launch into the 'you should never have started in the first place', or you should have given up long ago, or ' a man of your age should know better' argument. For most of my life smoking was NOT regarded as anti social, in fact very much the opposite. Most schools had their groups that smoked behind the bike sheds, smoking was allowed in restaurants and cinemas, doctor's and dentist's waiting rooms, shops, offices, pretty much anywhere. God help you if you sat in the cinema behind someone with a pipe or a cigar! Most of the actors smoked on screen and 'role models' were rarely seen without a cigarette. (Except Cliff Richards of course) Smoking was 'normal' on most forms of transport, BR would usually throw the odd No Smoking carriage onto the end of trains and only later it sort of became more acceptable to only smoke upstairs on a bus. To offer someone a cigarette was considered as a very sociable introduction. Newspapers, magazines, adverts tv and cinema, actively encouraged you to smoke. There was a strong element of manliness etc about being seen not only smoking, but with the right cigarette. You are never alone with a Strand. None of this takes away from the now known dangers to the smoker and those around them but I don't think the whole change of ethos of 'smoking and society' is usually taken into account these days. I will give up smoking, even though I don't want to, but I will not be 'bullied' into it by others? I think that any non smoker who is inconvenienced or threatened by someone else's habit has a perfect right to request that the situation be changed, either by moving or sticking to the law. I do not believe that a non smoker has the right to dictate or lecture someone who chooses to smoke, I don't believe that there is anyone today who is not aware of the downside or potential side effects. I suppose much the same can be said about drinking. I don't drink very much but have friends who love to get rat arsed. I wouldn't dream of lecturing them. Or the drunken louts that I have to weave around on my way home or about my business. I choose not not drink, but I still have to tolerate or cope with the effects of those who do around me. Apologies, rant over

NTFS is much better at handling files but can still benefit from defragmentation. Quite a lot depends on how you use the computer and whether you generate a large number of small files.

The letter part was true, the letter has been on display in the museum for awhile. he never got the letter which was sad. The ability to manipulate puppets like that is incredible to watch, as also was the spider when it came here in 2008, that really was creepy!!! Having said that, it seemed to be 'asleep' nearly every time I went down to look at it !!!

They were very strange, impressive though. it is good to see the docks being used so much again, especially when I think what they were like not so many years ago.

Thank you for the explanation, it is good to understand the science behind it. I was hoping that maybe a few more people might have related their own experiences and was giving it time. I am not sure yet which area I will be buying the boat in, it could be anywhere I suppose as i am not restricted by time or distance. So, when I approach a surveyor do I need to ask him about his equipment and methods? I certainly don't want to start of by telling him his own business !!! And if he says that removing the blacking is just not necessary how do I know whether that is because he has the more expensive equipment or because he doesn't but just includes the paint anyway? I am completely in the dark over this, thanks to your posting I do now understand the technical side, it is just the practicality of employing the services of a surveyor and relying on his methods and trusting his results? But thank you for the explanation

Thanks, I will obviously have to make arrangements to reblack the areas if that is the case, I am just wondering what to do if the surveyor says it is not necessary to cut the blacking back!

Having now got very close to the point of actually going out and looking for the right boat the next point will almost certainly be a survey. There was a thread recently which I am still looking for about whether a surveyor would clean spots on the hull back to bare metal in order to establish the steel thickness. I will find the thread but I don't think there was any clear outcome of the question? The point being that when I am looking for a surveyor, should I be asking if that is their practice, and presumably I would also need to clear it with the seller if they are going to be doing that. I think there were posts suggesting that, unless the blacking was cut back, the result would be meaningless? If it is simply down to the surveyors choice is it possible to request that it is done, assuming the seller is agreeable? It's just something that has been bugging me for a while and now I am going to have to actually do it! Many thanks for any advice.

I really hope it turns out to be a simple aerial change for you, does anyone near you have one that you could borrow to try it? It still niggles me that you have a fuzzy picture, I suppose the tuner could be faulty. The other thing that comes to mind is that, if it is set to digital tuning, and you come to the frequency where the channel should be but the signal is too weak, then normally you will get a message on the screen saying 'No Signal' or 'Poor Signal', you won't get a fuzzy picture. I presume you use 'Automatic' for setting up the channels? Do you get a list of channels that it has found? There are normally dozens of them, radio channels too, not all usable though. If you don't then I would think that it is still trying to use analogue instead of digital.

Just a thought, you mention a 'fuzzy' picture? With digital you either get a picture or you don't. If the signal is bad then you might just get a 'pixillated' picture with the little boxes all over the place, but it won't be fuzzy? Just wondering if you meant pixillated, otherwise it may be set to tuning to analogue?

No,I got that, although with one son in his 30's and the other about to turn 40 I don't think they will be too disappointed

Many thanks, bearing that information in mind I think I will make the journey after all. It will be good experience for me anyway.