Peter-Bullfinch

Is there any Dept of Transport guidance to say when a bridge over a canal should have towpath illumination I wonder? Maybe that is down to the bridge architect?

Whilst it is reasonably easy to find the length of tunnels around the system it's not to easy to find the length of tunnels created by wide bridges. Why does this matter? They are often wide and easy to see through. Well..it doesn't really, its just that we were both discussing this as we went along. On the Bridgewater at Stretford there is the huge bridge where the M60 crosses. In Stoke the Trent and Mersey is crossed by the A50 and this creates a tunnel over 70 yards long and this one is lit. We wondered where there were longer ones? We do recall a very short tunnel on the Regents Canal but we are unsure if this is the shortest.

In the summer a solar panel charging a battery will probably run a small 12v fridge. In winter it probably won't. In winter a hatch to the boat's baseplate will make a cool box to keep things for a couple of days. I tried this idea with an old cool box cut in half and the boat base became the base of this small cool box. The hatch cover was fixed to the cool box lid.

Sorry to hear that. We were there this morning too but we saw nothing amiss. This stretch through Stone, Barlaston and Trentham always appears quiet and well cared for. The Aldi, a short walk from Hemheath Bridge (106), seems to be attracting more boaters to pause there these days too.

Good to see you "always look on the bright side of life ". Best wishes.

We lock ours. It's unessecary I feel. The lid in the open position can be slid off the hinges if repainting around area is needed. The chain securing the three bottles has a shackle with a threaded link to keep it affixed.

I prefer the rail but with a slight overhang in towards the boat to enable a more secure grip. Unfortunately our Colecraft shell hasn't got this feature in our 1986 version. I imagine but don't know for certain but the rail might be more awkward to prep for repainting.

We dropped our engine exhaust stack and removed the back cabin chimney to make it a bit easier as the line passed over our boat.

I believe this is where the folk from Wigan were getting it wrong. They were finding the crust just too hard eating them whole.

This was Countess on the Montgomery a couple of weeks ago, passing us whilst we were moored up.

I do hope this blue sprayed marker washes away soon. It does appear to have a chalky finish so maybe it might. I also wish the fishermen good fortune and a great day. I won't need to pass them because I'm past now at Wheaton Aston (56.9p per litre) . All the practising fishermen we passed today were good natured and friendly.

Fifteen miles of blue sprayed splodges at intervals from south of the Audlem flight on towards Norbury to indicate the pegs. This is a very slow section anyway with all the long lengths of moored boats but you may want a warning for this Saturday, the 19th.

They are regularly spotted around Crooke, west of Wigan. I wonder what they taste like in a pie......?

Maybe we need a pinned list for all the Bridgewater Facilities. This topic keeps on popping up. Perhaps the list could begin with the splendid mooring right outside Aldi in Leigh adjacent to the point where the Bridgewater begins. It may be better done with someone with a keyboard rather than us phone screen tappers.

Two panels joined by a set of hinges weigh quite a lot. Ours haven't moved an inch and it gets very windy in Lancashire in winter. If they are positioned over a mushroom vent it's easy to use a length of chain from the underside of the frame to the vent.

Agreed....they are fairleads. Now we only have one! The other was scraped off by the valve failing on the lift bridge at the end of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct as we went under. It was thankfully repaired fairly promptly....the bridge winding mechanism....not my fairlead...yet.

Many thanks for this. I'll search it out on our way back this Autumn. One more Elsan point is at Thorn Marine in Stockton Heath just down the side of the chandlers shop. I usually pop into the shop....there is always something I need...

Please can you describe the location of the Elsan point in Lymm. I had no idea there was a facility there and I've been passing through by boat since I was a lad! Lymm is provided with capacious rubbish bins on both sides regularly emptied by the council.

This will be damson gin at Christmas time. I thought that if the fallen tree was a bit of a random picture then this one is equally so. The good thing about damson gin is you need a couple of clear wine bottles and that means drinking the contents first.....

If you take a pic on your phone and it's over the size allowed usually you can resize it easily by editing it (option usually appears below your pic when you look in your gallery of phone pics). Just trim the picture a little around the edges and that does the trick.

In 2000 the 1986 Bullfinch was stretched from 45 feet to 57. The extra 12 feet gave a generous bedroom and an enlarged engine room. This allowed the 10hp Sabb to be replaced by a 22hp Sabb. The Colecraft shell was lengthened and engine fitted by Mike Sivewright to a very professional standard. The existing cherry planking by Ron Beauchamp at Colecraft was copied into the new bedroom walls with the rest of the woodwork done to follow the existing scheme. Other work was done. A full repaint, inverter and some 240 sockets, a new front stove, a new Alde boiler and other minor works. Now, back in 1986 the original boat cost towards £17000 and this new work cost back then a further £20000. On the face of it considering the boats value in 2017 then it seems worth it. We love the boat as it is but we've only owned it for 11 of those 31 years. For the previous owner, in hindsight, he didn't think that the stretching was right for him. It wasn't the same boat in his eyes and he has told us he thought it would have been better to sell and buy another 57 foot boat.

We went down the Bimble route and it's been excellent. I didn't like the brackets and so knocked up my own from a pallet. It does hinge and has props but we never lift the panels. The wiring goes through a mushroom. The weight of the panels holds everything in place. Two x 100w panels plus an MPPT and a display was £300 with wire, fuse etc.

You might enjoy Des Pawsons Knotcraft.

Yes, very true...but at each boundary of the Bridgewater there are hundreds of miles of wonderful waterways to explore. Much as I like the Bridgewater I wouldn't want to go there every weekend. I'd vary it a bit more.