David Schweizer

When I was cruising around the country single handed, I often sought a 14 day mooring to leave the boat whilst I returned home to my home and family. We have also done this as a family when we wish to visit far flung places which take weeks to reach. OK, if you can afford to pay someone to cut your grass and tend your garden, you can carry on for months, but most people actually like their homes and share their time between their home and their boat. Personally I would go mad if I could not return to my workshop every couple of weeks and mess about repairing, or making things from wood.

I know this is going back a bit and somewhat but the arguement that the maximum 14 day mooring in any one Parish was based upon the C of E Reading of Banns requirements is a bit irrelevant, unless it goes back more than 160 years. The law requiring marriages to be conducted by the Church of England was repealed in 1837. (Jews and Quakers were already excempt) Since 1837 the only legal requirement has been for Marriages to be conducted and recorded by someone authorised by the District Registrar. I am not aware of any Parish residential reqiuirement for Civil Marriages.

One of the favorite culprits is the domestic water pump. If you have the popular Shurflo, they have a tendancy to start leaking after about five or six years service, but because the leak is often on the inflow side of the diaphragm there is no tell tale frequent on/off beat with all the taps closed. You may not see the leak from above so run your finger underneath it, if there is any water that could be the culprit. Mine started to leak un-noticed earlier this year, and over a few months managed to deposit more than five gallons of water into my bilges. And yes, boats can, and often do, rust from the inside, so it needs to be sorted out before any damage is done.

If you are referring to Permitted Moorings, based upon my experience, the Warden was incorrect. The mooring is allocated for the exclusive use of the named boat and owner, and cannot be officially used by any other person without the consent of BW, and that means the Regional Office not just any employee. If the mooring has no tennant, boats may be permitted to use it on a short term basis, at the discretion of the Regional Office, When I occasionally took up this option some years ago, a pro rata fee was applied. If the mooring has tennant but is unoccupied, no one has the right to use it except for BW and only in an emergency. I can assure you that I was less than pleased when, on more than one occassion, I returned to my permitted mooring to find another boat left on it unoccupied. This repeated inconsiderate behaviour was one of the reasons why I gave up my towpath mooring in favour of a private off side mooring with a Caretaker on site.

OOPS! my mistake I did buy the B2. I have corrected the link.

Agreed. Based on advice from Gibbo, I recently bought one of these:- http://www.thetoolboxshop.com/sw180b-2-alb...uous-6642-p.asp A seriously heavy duty piece of kit and substantially cheaper than a Splitting diode of the same handling capacity.

I agree with the theory, but it would be easier to loosen the fuel supply pipe on the fuel filter head, and priime the lift pump mechanicaly with the small lever fitted to the pump. If fuel squirts out of the loosened pipe connection, the pump is OK, if it either just dribbles or nothing much comes out, the pump is probably faulty.

I would not deny for one moment that two days with you would impart a great deal of information, it would more than reflect my observation about anyone " ... spending the day with a competent and experienced boater,..." Unfortunately I have seen too many people running these courses on tatty old boats, with instructors demonstrating that they know little more than the participants. I have also heard them talking absolute rubbish about some aspects of boating, together with some very dubious information about the historical aspects of the canals and boats. However I stand by my statement regarding the style of the courses. this is a direct Quote from the RYA publicity:- " It is a hands-on course with minimal theory, and is not only an opportunity to learn new skills but also a fun day out!"

Oh it will rain up there George. I used to live in Buxton and it never seemed to stop raining. We even had rain during the 1975(?) drought.

Not Fenny Tunnel, The Tunnel it is dead straight and the trees are further back. Can't Suggest where it is though.

The RYA Inland Helmsman's certificate is merely an awareness training course, with a bit of handling experience, although how much really depends on how many particpants are on the course. It does not require the participants to possess any prior knowledge or experience, and incorporates virtualy no theory. A fun day out is how the RYA promote it It is not, as some people want to imply, a competence training course, and carries no certification which indicates any level of competence. Yes it is better than nothing, and probably more than most Hire Companies give their customers, but it is probably no better than anyone spending the day with a competent and experienced boater, so lets not pump it up to something it is not.

I was going to say that some years ago I undertook for the Board of Trade Boatmaster's Licence, and there was no instructtion on the side of the lock whilst holding up other boats, or indeeed any delays caused to other boats. but as Ditchcrawler has been intimidated into removing his critical post, it all seems a bit pointless. However I will say that I have witnessed some of these RYA training courses and there seems to be quite a bit of variation in style. Whilst there will be some usefull stuff in them, there does not seem to be any consistency in the course content. Unlike the Boatmasters licence which has a specified curriculum of skills and knowledge which has to be achieved. I also fail to see how one short day with other people constuitutes a real training course. My Boatmaster's Licence course took six months and required me to log up a considerable number of hours operating a boat under the surpervision of a trained and experienced licence hiolder.

I have a BMC 1.5 with the original oil filter held in place by a centre bolt, and use an entirely different method from that detailed in the service manual. Instead of removing the centre bolt and jiggling around with a filter chamber full of black oil, I remove the two bolts holding the filter head onto the cylinder block and lift the whole assembly free of the engine. The filter can then be dismantled off the boat in a plastic tray which can be wiped clean afterwards. This method which was taught to me by one the former engineers with a well known Hire fleet operator, almost totally eliminates any oil spillage. It is also a great deal easier to remove the old sealing ring and replace it when the assembly is off the boat, and no more scraped knuckles trying to refit it holding the filter chamber onto the head whilst fiddling around with the long bolt.

Not.

I accept dressing up in traditioal Victorian costumes at a Waterways Festival for fund raising, but working a boat in that type of clothing, unless it is an early steamer or an ex horse boat is not representative of the history.

What do we mean by "looking the part"? if it is a reinactment of the Jam'ole Run then ordinary everyday working men's/women's clothes of the 1950's/ 1960's is the correct attire, with Trilby hats or ex army berets for the men, and head scarves fro the women. There is no room for Red spotted neckerchiefs or bowler hats (or boiler suits!!) And before you produce a photo to prove me wrong Alan, I know that Ernie Kendal sometimes sported a knitted wooly hat, and that Arthur Bray wore a "brown" neckechief, but not knotted at the front, it was wrapped round and the ends were tucked into the back of his jacket or jumper.

The earliest map I can find is 1923 ( about the same date as the photo) and the Road bridge is shown quite clearly. I have also found a reference to A saxon bridge over the river Colne dating back to the 7th century, named after the Local Wuxen tribe. it is believed that Uxbridge derives it's name from "Wuxen Bridge" Back in the 1960's, I used to be a regular at the Swan and Bottle, before it became a swanky Eating House. It dates back to the 17th Century when it used to be two pubs, the Olde Swan and the Leather Bottle. I do not know when they were united, but it explains it's unique name. We always assumed that being on the main route fron Oxford to London that it was probably an old coaching Inn. Perhaps the ramp down to the river was used to water the horses. I have just found a couple of current photos of the pub taken from more or less the same position as the early photo :- http://img01.beerintheevening.com/6f/6fd5d...590d6bb2197.jpg http://www.pub-explorer.com/gtlondon/photo...tleuxbridge.jpg With a bit of imagination you can tell it is the same building, albeit much altered. The area in front of the pub which used to go down to the river is now part of the car park/outside eating area.. Just found this photo a few hendred yards from the Swan and Bottle, it is our old mooring (on the offside) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/382644..._7a24f44ed0.jpg I have a photo of Ernie Kendall and Rose Bray on Roger and Raymond in almost exactly the same position as the boat in the photo, taken by Hugh Mcknight in the mid 1960's. I was there when he took it. Here endeth the History lesson.

I am pretty certain that it is (what would now be) the back of the the Swan and Bottle, and the "slipway" into the river could be the old Denham road into Uxbridge before they built the bridge. Somewhere I have some old maps of the area, I will look them out to see if they confirm any of my assumptions.

It certainly has, but the photo would appear to have been taken from the other side of the river which runs close to the canal at that point behind the pub. If it had been taken from "...near Uxbridge canal" as the caption suggests, there would have been a towpath running between the pub and the water.

The chances of an authorized residential mooring in, or near, Bath are virtually non-existant, unless you can get anything in any of the marinas. Even if there were any moorings available, you would be at the end of a very long list. Sorry to be so negative, but that is the reality.

BW used to have quite a few "unpaid" mooring Wardens , who performed their duties in returmn for a reduced residential mooring fee, but most seem to have dissapeared over the past few years. The Wardens had no real power, but did have direct access to the full time Patrol Officers, who could be contacted for official action, if someone overstayed, and did not respond to gentle persuasion. I understand that part of the problem was that some of the Wardens were subjected to agressive verbal (and sometimes) physical attacks, consequently new volunteers have been more difficult to recruit. Having said that, I know of one on the South Oxford, who has been doing the job for years, and as far as I know, she has never been threatened.