AndrewIC

I suspect the docks were not so much over-filled as under-excavated (or under-rearranged, q.v. the photo of the digger earlier in this thread). Princes Dock was filled in to become basically a decorative water feature well before the Link was built (I left The Royal in late 2000, so it was before then). No idea what they filled them with, sorry, I just remember the stream of lorries, and the demise of the Liverpool Museum Large Objects Store.

Seriously impressed - and that's a prodigious amount of cr*p I watched them fill in Prince's Dock to "decorative depth" when I was working for Royal Insurance, the canteen (before the hotels were built) had a clear view over the dock and the river, but I hadn't realised that they had filled theHalf Tide Dock as well which appears to be where you got stuck. I did notice as we went through a couple of weeks ago that the "permanent" obstruction between Salisbury and Nelson docks which was installed when the Link was built, appears to have been removed. Had you wished to, could you have gone the short way from Dutton to Dutton?

Say hello if I'm around!

Wot he said. Been at Uplands for years now, pretty basic but friendly.

Ocker Hiill Tunnel Branch. The VMs are at the entrance end just through the bridge. If you get up the locks in good time you could go up Spon Lane and head for the Engine Branch, but I can't recall when Smethwick are due to reopen. Anglesey Basin to Ocker Hill was enough for one day for us.

CTS definitely no longer sell diesel. Sherborne Wharf do sell diesel. Caggy's I believe sell it. I'm not sure there is anywhere up in the "NE corner" though.

Went all the way up to the basin last year, decided (not knowing the area) that it looked bit too exposed for overnight, so had a coffee in the art gallery(?) cafe in sight of the boat, then retreated to the secure pontoon at the junction.

We found the Walsall between Walsall and Ocker Hill hard going last summer, but other than that had no real problems on any of the lengths mentioned. The W&E was a very pleasant surprise, and there is a big supermarket handy at Brownhills as well as the services block. Anglesey Basin was a lovely remote place to moor overnight, and Pelsall and the Cannock Extension looked good as well. The Daw End Branch was very overgrown in parts, with only a channel about a boat's width clear in places, but we didn't meet anything coming the other way (in fact we didn't see another boat on the move for about 3 days!). Had to refill one pound on the Perry Bar flight, and Perry Bar top lock was also a remarkably quiet overnight spot.

Perhaps it's a sliding scale It used to be signed as 48 hours, so you could stay 2 nights, which was ideal for an afternoon arrival, a day in the museum, etc, and a morning departure. Then a couple of years ago they changed to 24hrs, which made a decent stop-off difficult.

Out of curiosity, what is the current time limit on the moorings on the museum side? They used to be 48hr, then went to 24hr a couple of years ago.

Entirely unsurprised, I'm afraid. I have recently had dealings with front office and bankside staff (and volunteers), and they were, as ever, excellent, cheerful and very helpful. But corporately it seems that C&RT have inherited BW's status as "the enemy".

I was astonished to discover that licence payers were not automatically "friends".

Black Country Museum - take a day off and go round it and the Dudley tunnel trip! Andrew PS Remember Smethwick Locks are closed, you'll have to use Factory, Spon Lane or Brades to get up onto the Wolverhampton level.

And in Liverpool they can manage to provide 14 days on pontoons with water taps for nothing at all, and provide bridge keepers and lockies to help get you in and out!

Or even taking pictures while posing on your boat!

The W&B was, as I understand it, intended to be broad, and was built as such until it reached the top of Tardebigge when the cost of building broad locks was considered prohibitive and therefore they were built narrow, apart from the ones at Diglis.

Yes, that's an option, but not sure the funds will stretch to that at the moment, plus I'd have to find somewhere to put it!

Double bother. Having extracted the unit from the boat, the relay appears to be fine. Looks like a problem with the electronics

Thanks, need to extract the unit and test it first, it's a bit inaccessible!

Bother. My old-style Smartbank (with LED remote control panel, now discontinued) has stopped working. The lights on the remote panel still illuminate correctly, but the relay has lost it's clunk. Hopefully it's the just the relay coil and not the electronics.

I'm sure they will be pretty and possibly thorough, but will these maps have any more legal force than anyone else's opinion of what constitutes a "place" under the Act? I'd be more concerned about the increasing number of emails from CART announcing mooring restrictions and "extended stay charges" - two in the last day.

One of the barriers appears to be held together with gaffer tape, but other than that pleased to report that the bridge seemed to be functioning normally.

I am unable to find any corroboration from Waterscape, etc, but the word on the towpath in Wigan this morning from a boater coming the other way is that due to barrier damage bridge 20 is being operated by C&RT, twice a day at 1100 and 1445. Boater said that he had seen no info before reaching the bridge, and I have seen no notices en route. This may affect anyone trying to get to bridge 9 for a scheduled passage to Liverpool. Will update tomorrow when I have passed it, mobile signal permitting. Andrew

That's almost exactly the conversation I had with them today, the system is very unfriendly. The lady on the new 0303 number (old Wigan number is no longer on the website) was unable to tell me whether there was space on the days I was asking about, I had to submit the scanned forms by email and ask for them. That said the whole process including getting confirmation back by email only took me about 20 minutes, but then I had ready access to a scanner. In my naivety I was expecting to be able to get availability over the phone, and preferably online. Andrew

Do the washing up, clean out the stove, and empty the bog!