Big Bob W

Considering that CRT's pool of VLockies has a fairly high proportion of over 70's, I am guessing we are going to see a much restricted VLockie presence on the system. Not such a bad thing after last years experiences. However, how's that going to impact on the flights that are only unlocked when manned. Foxton? Watford? etc.

Whilton would soon sell it!

Initially I was a bit concerned on the security aspect of the magnetic mounts but unless you look rally closely, the mounts look as though they are screwed on. The cables route into the boat through one of the mushroom vents.

I didn't like the idea of gluing flexible panels to the roof and favoured rigid panels. But also did not really want to drill into the roof to fit brackets. So I have made up brackets for each corner of the panels with magnets. Its a surprisingly solid fixture. It is also possible to tilt the panels by lifting one side and propping with a short length of timber.

River Soar (When not in flood)

https://www.nenevalleyfirewood.co.uk/ Have bought off them for a few years now.

How familiar does that sound?

We moored there for a couple of years. Great choice of routes. I can't remember it being any worse than other marinas in gusty conditions. However, we never really felt at home there. The long, narrow pontoons were a bit daunting when walking down them in wet/icy weather. Especially when you are moored at the far end with gaps on the way. Parking was very congested during the summer. The Black Prince operation took precedence over everything else on Saturdays. No diesel/pumpout available on those days to us mere mortals!

We were in that queue yesterday. Problem was the Lockette at the top wasn't letting anyone up until someone came down. Now fair enough, we'd have just gone, but there were quite a number of hire boats ahead being held in the pounds ahead of us who assumed the Lockette knew best!! Hence a shambolic gridlock. This despite us trying to tell them the queue was halfway back to Newbold! As has been said, this was all compounded by just one of each duplicated lock being operable.

We recently spent a night at Castle Gardens. To be honest we were a little apprehensive about staying right in the city centre, but these proved to be excellent. They are on floating pontoons on the offside. Probably room for 4 boat lengths. 48 Hr Max. You can access the city via a locked (CRT key) gate which takes you in to Castle Gardens. Very safe. There are wheelie bins for rubbish on the pontoons provided by Leicester City Council. Considering the location, it was surprisingly quiet at night, although we were there mid-week.

All still listed as restricted on the CRT stoppages website.

In hindsight, that is exactly what we should have done. But to be honest I think we were just caught off guard. What is more worrying is another 30 seconds later, the lock would have been empty and the gate half open when Volockie opened his paddles without looking. Gate would have slammed shut taking the Mrs and any number of gongoozlers with it.

The “Towpath Fundraisers” jobs have just become one hell of a lot more challenging! Mr Parry says we don’t need any more money!

We called CRT to report. Somehow doubt it will get followed up.

Stoke Bruerne top lock today. We were heading up. The wife walks up to the lock to find it virtually empty and opens the bottom paddles to let the last inch or so out. Volocky then rolls up and proceeds to open both top paddles without even looking back. After Sue eventually managed to get his attention, he flatly refused lower the paddles - "Theres two boats here waiting to come down". So we lowered the bottom paddles and watched as a full lock of water went to waste. Quite unbelievable.

So at both ends of this long pound we have the the gates padlocked, no boats moving, but the paddles open letting water down. Am I missing something here?

Unbelievable. Why??

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/40442-july-2019-reservoir-watch.pdf It would be good to see a relaxation in the restrictions on the Buckby/Braunston/Stoke Bruerne flights. Reservoirs here sitting at around 73% according to this report. (2% up on the same period last year). I am still sceptical about how much the restrictions help - other than encouraging lock sharing. It is still the same number of boat movements, just concentrated into a 6 hour period.

In an attempt to avoid the behemoth coming directly at them? ?

After the last couple of weeks rainfall, and even more to come, it will be interesting to see how the reservoirs have recovered. I wonder if CRT will relax the restrictions? I suspect they will remain in place through the summer - just in case...!

We are moored at the end of the Leicester Line by Norton Junction. Had a couple of beers in the New Inn this evening before taking a walk down the pound after the top lock. I reckon there are over a dozen south bound boats,moored in the pound tonight. As soon as the flight re-opens, that pound is going to run dry in no time. And currently, looking out of the window, there is definitely no flow of water being pumped back up the Leicester line.

I'm sat in Heyford Fields Marina at the moment. Nice and quiet here! If you really try, you can just hear the trains, but certainly not a problem. Loads of space for manoeuvring on/off your moorings. Bit tricky if theres a strong northerly breeze as it sweeps over the Nene Valley, but then I've not been in a marina yet that doesn't have a similar problem. I remember Overwater being notably tricky in windy conditions!

We used to have a share in ex-Challenger boat Victorious. That was definitely a Blue Haven boat.

Then there's the "Slow-Down Brigade". We came by Gayton visitor moorings a week or so ago. On tick-over, moored boats either side of us. I saw the git ahead sitting in the front of his boat giving us the stare and knew exactly what was coming. He clearly sits there waiting for boats to come through so he can shout at them to slow down. Sue's response is to greet him with a cheery "Good afternoon, what a lovely day" which throws him as he is expecting to get in to a heated exchange no doubt. He must have had a field day when the hire-fleet turned out from Gayton Marina!

My better half worked at Stoke Bruerne as a “Towpath Fundraiser” for a few weeks recently. They fired her in February as she wasn’t getting any sign ups. There’s hardly any visitors there midwinter, so not surprising really!