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‘Naughty and Nice’ from Vocation 🤪 I wouldn’t have guessed a view from Tipton. I was thinking perhaps the other end of the tunnel, other side of hill. But I guess that’d put the castle on the wrong of picture.

Nope …because I’d be siphoning your tank. 👍

It seems so. We have our 3. googling Sam Smiths they have an odd reputation closing pubs for swearing, banning bikers and chucking out gays.

Yes it did turn in to a few pages. thanks for the suggestions. I dare say I’ll have a ramble around Warwick (again ) if so I’ll be sure to look them up. 👍

Looking at their website they claim to be one of three still doing it , but don’t mention the other two. Assuming Devizes are still holding up the traffic on a Tuesday(?) we just need the third.

Right, I finally made it yesterday after a month off the boat doing me family stuff. Came down (and up) from Long Itchington yesterday, after a late start just made it for dark and came straight in pub. I like it. I think I very much like it. It’s a good pub. Thought it might be big and soulless but it’s a small gaff with a proper pub feel to it. Sadly I might have to stay longer than I thought, while I wait to get some coal. But hey, I’ll cope til Monday. £4.40 a pint which hurts, but the beers are ace and kept in proper top condition. Would I make a long detour again to get to it? Perhaps not, but it’ll always be on my stop over places should I be this way again. 👍👍👍

First thoughts are Dudley Castle up on hill And are they lime kilns on the left there? I like the picture. He’d have put a wash over pencil/graphite. (Most likely)

I believe there’s only 3 breweries that still use a dray and horse. Devizes is one and I forget the other 2.

Can we go straight to brewery?

🤷‍♀️don’t reckon it’d make any difference

I get odd looks all the time 🤷‍♀️ But never thought it were owt to do wi’ the way I spoke. 😃

Of course it’s not Cornish language but simply dialect. It may be said across other counties and places too, but it’s certainly particular to the South West. I don’t think it’s something I would normally write just a turn of phrase I use when speaking having picked it up living the better part of my life in Cornwall. It usually goes unnoticed and rarely gets a comment.

Cornish innit 👍

Shit! Sorry to hear that.

I think CRT might be using a wedge with a steeper gradient 😟 wasn’t there a driving advert that had a Malcolm? “We’ll done Malcolm!” or something similar.

yes, just a few bricks around the inside would do same wouldn’t it? and save £20-£30 by not buying the cage what’s the purpose of a cage to simply use less coal? or do you use the same amount but pile it higher? would one need an eco fan too for max benefit?

“Looking further ahead, we are proposing to carry out a consultation in 2023 to gather feedback on how boat licence pricing might look over the next ten years to support the long-term future of the waterway network. Richard Parry continued: “Boat licences account for around an eighth (12%) of the Trust’s annual income and help fund some of the vast amount of work necessary to keep the waterways safe and navigable; as we set out in our annual Boater Report, our core network expenditure is around four times what we raise from boating. Nevertheless, with our Government grant frozen since 2021, and currently undecided after 2027, this income is more critical than ever. We are doing all we can to generate more income from other sources where possible albeit with the difficult economic environment also affecting investment returns.” From Damian’s Boaters’ update. So maybe more increases in the licence fees to come?

Two new names for me. I’ll have a look for the David Cox paintings in Birmingham Art Gallery next time I pass through. It appears Solly was from Stone, I like his paintings of plants. 👍

yes, I’ve been a landlord too ive nothing against landlords really, some of my best friends are landlords and I can understand why one would have a tenant to pay the mortgage off, beats going to work oneself. As I’ve said I have been a landlord. I mean it’s double bubble isn’t it? The house goes up in value and someone else pays for it, a win win situation 👍

you’ll probably find it was the branch manager who bought it in them days didn’t anyone working in a bank get interest free mortgages ? or something similar? ✊ and bastard landlords put against the wall and shot with water pistols.

Ok, same artist a little less obvious and probably still on the Reagent's Canal but 🤷‍♀️

yes, of course I do I’m not going to deny that 😃 and I happily pay it. But there’s only so much any of us boaters can afford and boaters’ alone cannot pay for the system. So the general public need to understand they must chip into it more than they currently are, for they are reaping massive benefits for next to nowt. If that £1.60 you estimate went to a fiver that would pay the estimated 100 million that’s needed for the canals. And CRT will still plead poverty.

I view it the other way around. My logic is the other way. For how can boaters’ collectively compete with the total money raised from the tax payer? You say the taxpayer (of which I am one) pays £1.60 a year (your estimate) while I pay over a £1000 and the rest. Surely their contribution should at least double if not treble. It is after all for their wellbeing too, a fiver a year is nothing. All said I am probably paying one thousand times more to use the canals than the taxpayer does.

I’m getting confused, (probably the beer) you’re saying that the income from “boater payment” should match the income from DEFRA? what happens should DEFRA reduce their grant to zero? should we match that ? what happens when DEFRA realise what a wonderful system we have and double their grant? should we match that?