Trollspindle

I worked it out

Perhaps I should have waited thirty seconds and saved myself the trouble of posting. I never got sudoku either.. the big book of colouring can be taxing at times...

I hate cryptic clues

That will be the next trip I think, but juggling work, dog and cat and Uni, makes anything but a long days drive much more complicated to achieve. We are going to have to take the hound with us next time

Thank you everyone for all your advice and suggestions, we have just got in from a long but very informative day.

Cheers twinpot, Caen and Devizes marina are on the list.

Thanks Bagdad, we have a friend in Devizes who is due a visit, so Bath to Devizes sounds good. Can anyone recommend a marina that we could visit to look at boats for sale in the area? It is only a reconnaissance trip, we just want to see a few boats and soak up some atmosphere.

We are going to make a quick impromptu trip up to the Kennet and Avon from north Cornwall on Saturday to get a taste of boats and canals maybe look at a few for sale and get a idea of some layouts, we will probably be near the Bristol end, but if anyone has any ideas for places to visit and look at boats please speak up.

Dennis? I will try and track it down Ditch thanks for the heads up

The plan is to move about quite a bit, that's why we were looking at a vaguely circular route with a few side destinations to keep CaRT happy but still be roughly central to one fixed point, I guess we could do that much more easily in the midlands, or just get a permanent mooring if push comes to shove. tr son is home educated so schools are not an issue as such, but collage may be in a years or two. Not sure about work space at the moment, I have heard about a guy on the Kennet and Avon who works from a converted butty, that may be one option, I don't make large items, so probably have just a wee bit more kit than your average farrier, like I said, it's early days. Ta Joe, I would think there would be opportunity for picking up work at yards on the system as we go as well, maybe even a place in some kind of museam setting or other, who knows?

I have no idea of the river conditions to be honest Matty, but they do sound challenging and as novice boaters we thought we should get as much expert advice as possible before doing anything that can't be changed if needed. Just to put another spanner in the works, swmbo has just told me that Yorkshire is not the only option, just the one she was thinking about due to being close to family. we also have family still in Cornwall so as long as we are fairly rural, I'm happy to try most places between Bristol and York Thanks Opener, we have visited York over the years, but never commuted in or around it Thanks Peter, That's good to know, thank you Joe. Melbourne basin, I will look it up many thanks That is very sound advice, thanks Alan

You know you always get that one chap that comes onto forums and then asks lots of really stupid questions about all kinds of things that proves he has absolutely no clue whatsoever and is probably a complete idiot? Well hello everyone, my name is Steve, and I have a few questions… By way of introduction, I suppose you should know that I am a Fifty something self-employed Artist Blacksmith and am planning, or at least looking into planning a permanent move onto a live aboard Narrow boat with my wife, son and the dog and the cat. My Son plans to bring his own Spider (Brazilian White knee). My wife and I know nothing about Narrow boats except we both at separate times, and now at the same time, have held a dream to live on one. We are renting a house in Cornwall at the moment, but Helen is training to be a child nurse and would like to work and live near York so that she can be near her Mum and as I was born in Yorkshire, I should I suppose, make some kind of effort to live there for a while at least. The “plan” is to CC on an up and down and roundabout route on the Rippon, York, Pocklington and Aire and Calder navigations to try to keep within a 60mile or so radius of the Hospital she eventually finds herself working in. We are very used to long commutes, living in Cornwall and training in Plymouth is about an hour and twenty minutes at the moment, though we have not totally ruled out marina-ing up for a year if we can find a cheap enough location. OK, so that’s the “back of an envelope” plan, now to the first of the stupid questions... Am I right I thinking that a 57-foot boat is about as big as this location can handle, I seem to remember reading that some of the locks cannot take the larger boats. How intimidating/difficult are the tidal stretches of the system? If it helps, just think of us as Winnie the Pooh and Piglet and ask yourself how we would cope. Are we likely to fall foul of CRT as long as we follow the 14 day rule but try to stay an hour or so away from York for most of the time? If anyone is up that way, or knows it well, and you have any suggestions for routs and stopovers for the novice narrow boaters please chip in. we can’t do anything yet for at least a year, so there will be plenty of stupid questions to come, I apologise in advance.