Chertsey

Sounds about right!

I once helped out on a trip on Lancing, quite a few years ago now. My most important contribution was to go and ask all the passengers to stand at the front to give us a chance of getting off the bottom. I guess pumping out the water from under what would have been the back cabin floor had the floor been there might have helped, but there presumably wasn't the means to do it. Glad it's found a new home (and sorry for being a bit slow on the uptake). Are you keeping the PD2?

Lancing also has one iirc. if there are any more that does indeed make more than three...

Cos everyone loves a bit of drama and this forum is no exception....

It's called a thought experiment... Well, looking at his avatar... Who is actually posting..?

I'd rather find dogs than children in a pub.... And I don't even like dogs much (although Little Ricky has won me over). Dogs are generally better behaved.

I am pretty sure Craftmaster do it. I can't quite remember what it's called though.

Oh, I thought it was from Teddington but probably on no good basis.

Is it not the Port of London Authority?

But we shall go on arguing about etymology ad nauseum nonetheless :-) I suggest to Bruce that the textile tenting/tenterhooks has a separate root from tenting as in tending, which is not covered at all in the definition quoted. The (incidental) mill town connection has confused the issue.

Was going to suggest donating to HNBC to sell but also endorse Chesterfield Trust as they sell things at reasonable prices and I always pick up a few good books from their stall!

"Tenter is fairly widely used in Lancashire and West Yorkshire for someone who looks after something. Even a guard dog can be a good tenter. I suppose it could derive from those who looked after the tenter fields" Without wanting to get into wind/wind territory, my guess would be that it comes from the verb to tend.

No offence taken. And indeed, many other alternatives have been offered, including the suggestion that a man does not have to be a bullying ogre in order to sap a woman's confidence, nor does it have to be intentional, but for a variety and a combination of reasons, it happens, and it doesn't hurt to be aware of that. The reasons behind people's choices are interesting and it is valid to explore them, and, sometimes, to challenge them.

But you are observing and judging what others choose to say here... And boating well *is* a skilled task. I know people who have been doing it for fifty years and still feel they have more to learn. I know I will never be as good as some people are (but that's nothing to do with my sex or gender).

Holme Fen, 9 feet below sea level. There's a pub there but I can't recall what it's called. There used to be a special plaque you could get for doing four points of the ML, or five if your boat was short enough. (thank that included Ramsey and Holme Fen??) We got it for Warrior, which was a Ramsey boat. According to Wikipedia, yes it is also the lowest point in Britain.

Ricky likes that one too. Can't think why. :-) or possibly because he gets the best part of a lock keeper's grill when my eyes turn out to be bigger than my belly.

I must get round to getting those t-shirts printed. On the front they'll say 'I also steer' and on the back, 'I also work locks'. Quite a few people I've mentioned the idea to have expressed an interest...

That is exactly it. Often with no conscious ill-intention, in fact many men would fiercely deny that they were sapping their companion's confidence. But because of all sorts of social and cultural issues - and, pace MtB, assumptions about innate skills and abilities - it is all to easily done. I found that my spatial awareness regarding steering into locks got better and better the more I did it, strangely :-) It's all too easy to give up when things go wrong once or twice, and having someone more confident and keen to take over makes it likely to stay that way. No, but practising until she (I) can do it competently does.

I think the liner works in two ways, so it's not all about putting more gunk down the flue. It creates an air gap, insulating the inner surface, meaning it's not so cold so less stuff condenses on it, but goes out of the top of the chimney. This, I *think* actually makes the fire draw better. An idea came to me in the night. I have no access to riveting facilities in the short term but I do have some exhaust bandage lying around. I'm thinking maybe I can get the liner in place in the collar, wrestle it to size or a bit under size, maybe with some wire, then wrap the bandage round the bottom until it's a tight fit into the chimney, possibly tapering it a bit to help get the chimney on. Hopefully that would hold it in place and seal it at the bottom, while the spring of the liner would hold it in place at the top. Do you think that would work? Edited lots of times for clarity and new thoughts.

Fair point, I've done that on occasion. Well, if shouting 'Oi! Can you lean on this a minute!' counts as feminine wiles.

I hate to admit it, but there are some gates I can't shift. What do the non-steering wifies do then?

But I do ideally need one that will stay in the chimney when I take the chimney off so that it doesn't catch the bridge, and that will enable me to get the chimney back on again afterwards without too much of a struggle. I think this means that it will have to be fixed, probably more like KK's than Ray's, in the medium term at least, and I will have to be ready to whip it off when required - it's not hard to know when, and to do it, with the cabin chimney, even if you don't notice until the last second. In the very short term, however, I may just have to carry on ramming a bit of rag down between the chimney and the handrail, unless there are any other tar avoidance schemes for single skinned chimneys? I'm not sure the liner would stay in on its own. I've also wondered about an all through liner/extension but I concluded it would make the whole assembly too unwieldy, and would of course necessitate taking it off more often. I saw a National milk tin in an antiques place in Saltaire and was tempted but at £16 it was a bit steep to put to traditional use. Perhaps I should have got it for show.

Ricky likes the Nelson... Although to be fair, contrary to appearances, he didn't get dinner..

I seem to recall we thought we'd done well to wind Warrior (54') there many years ago.

I dunno, I suspect it's often - although of course not always - at least part of the case, and I don't think it's sexist to remark on it. Yes, often the woman 'doesn't want to steer' - but you have to ask why that is. It's very, very rare for it to be the other way round. It's more than possible that it's because she hasn't been encouraged, hasn't been allowed to develop the experience and confidence, or her confidence has taken a knock and hasn't been given the chance or encouragement to recover. I was once that woman, and it took a long time, a lot of willpower, actually going out and getting training and practice on another boat, and an obsessive love of boats, for me to get over it. I've also spoken to very many other women at locks who say things like 'he doesn't trust me not to scratch his pride and joy', 'he's better at it than me' (well of course he is if he's had all the practice), 'I wouldn't dare', etc etc. If a bloke has a bad experience in a lock with someone opening the paddles too fast, would we expect him to refuse ever to steer again? So don't dismiss it out of hand.