haggis

Oh, Kezzer, please don't go ! I enjoy your posts and I think you are one of the sanest people on here - might not be difficult though. 😄 Don't be put off by a know it all who from time to time goes off his trolley. Seems to be lady boaters so I think that says a lot about him.

Nice meal and a good walk down a path from bridge 208 right to the Leigh Arms. A bit wet when we went down but dry on the way back . Bring Saturday afternoon Mothers day tomorrow it was busy but the service was good.

Mr Swan was sitting on the opposite bank. In the past when we came past after the cygnets have hatched there are usually several people standing at the services watching them. . I think they are a local attraction but folk know to leave them in peace.

Iain has been tasked with finding out beers and prices but he is not a great beer drinker 😄. I don't think the Leigh Arms is any posher Than the Stanley Arms but of the two we think the Leigh Arms had more atmosphere and nicer food. Well see what we can do though 😄

Having a couple of weeks afloat again and today saw us move from Park Farm to bridge 208 handy for walking down to the Leigh Arms tonight. Things are a bit earlier down here than they are at home and it is lovely to see new growth on the trees. I even saw a chestnut in leaf. The swan is sitting on her nest opposite the Anderton services as she does every year. Didn't see many moving boats but sods law saw us meet 3 at bridges in Anderton but fortunately not where there were two breasted working boats moored opposite a single narrow boat 😄. Perhaps they think that because the lift is not working the canal is closed. I finally got the all clear from my cardiologist this week and I feel better than I have done for years . At last !

Not good news ! It will have a big impact on businesses on the river which rely on boats going down the lift as well as on folk wanting to visit the river. Although you can get onto the weaver via the Ship Canal it is an additional cost and has to be arranged.

Thank you, Liam. That is very helpful.

Gosh! Aren't males lucky to have such useful peeing devices 🙂 .

Thank you. I read that the canal is closed at Agden Bridge but I couldn't find where exactly that is! Didn't think of looking at canal Plan 🙂

Now that the lovely weather is leaving us 🙂 we are off boating again starting next saturday. The plan is to go up the bridgewater as iain would like to have a look at where the canal breached. Is there a winding hole after the one at lymm? Our Nicholsons guides are on the boat and googling hasn't given me the answer :-). After we have about turned we may head up the Llangollen but not sure we will get as far as the Ponty whatsit aqueduct!

Was this a message within the mod arena? I can't remember seeing it on the open forum. If it is true that it was a mod only edict that it very worrying and we can only hope that the wonderful mods nowadays don't have such "rules"

We keep our bags of coal in the front deck under the cratch cover, stacked up side by side at the front where they don't interfere with getting on and off the boat We have a coal scuttle which is kept beside the fire and we fill it using tongs till the bag can easily be lifted and the coal tipped onto the scuttle. No mess or coal dust on the front deck I think the previous owners of the boat had a big plastic box on the front deck and the coal was emptied into it We felt that a box would reduce the available space so didn't go down that route

Sort of. When C&RT was formed British Waterways in Scotland became British Waterways trading as Scottish Canals and the finances were divided between the two organisations The Scottish Government wanted to have control of Scotland's canals, hence the split. Both north and south of the border had their own staff and that remained the position. Over the years there has continued to be liaison between the two organisations although they operate independently.

Is this true? I was of the opinion that C&RT are the operating body for the river Trent and a licence allows you to travel on rivers which connect two bits of canal system - for example, the Ribble Link

Yes I thought it was a good survey and didn't lead the answers by the way questions were phased. It ,as you say, allowed much more opportunity to express your concerns and suggested solutions.

I didn't get an email either and had to start at the beginning again.

I thought OXTER was the slang for under arms (arm pits) 🙂

A bit of a hassle blowing it up every night and letting it down in the morning , unless you can store it blown up during the day.

It could be raised with the commission, could it not ?

Possibly they were thinking that mooring near you rather than a few hundred yards away would prevent passing boats having to slow down twice in quick succession 🙂

Not as easily as down south but there are a few people who work on boats and there are a few dry docks for hire. There are no marinas and boatyards like there are in Englandshire but most boaters manage. It is not always appreciated by boaters who bring their boats to the Lowland canals just how different it is up here.

No idea ! However Scottish Canals gets its funding from the Scottish Government and I can't remember any acts of parliament being passed about how they operate. They have rules which we all sign up to when we take out a licence although the one about "no continuous cruising and all boats must have a mooring " is, I understand being/about to be challenged .

I don't see why RCR should be contacting insurance companies asking them to ensure that their third party cover has wreck removal. Surely that is the boat owners responsibility. The point they made was that while the boaters had third party cover, wreck removal was excluded.