Emerald Fox

We'll have to dig their skellingtons out of their graves and hang them - just like wot they dun to poor old Ollie Cromwell! Who will be plucking the womens' knickers out of the trees?

Was 'frail old lady' trying to pull a fast one? I bet if I had set my tent up on that land for a night of wild camping she would have been out of her den like a shot and told me to clear off!

Try Droitwich Spa & back 2 times. 42 locks at Tardebigge x 4 = 164 (plus those of Droitwich Canal). That will see your week flash by!!

It's navigable already/anyway, that stretch - we done it on 29th December, proving that there were no blockages and that the lock gates from 12 to 1 all open/close. The thing is, there seems to be no-one actually doing much of anything, so no wonder it's taking several months. Time to call in the Chinese Army - they'll have it sorted in one morning!

Will CRT be giving reductions on licences for boats stuck in Sowerby Bridge, as they can't go anywhere? It's a thought!

The Fox on the spot in Sowerby Bridge spoke this afternoon to a man in a van guarding the equipment at Walker Bridge which is the 2nd bridge east of Shire Cruisers' basin. He said 2 weeks before the dams there will be removed; yesterday I heard tomorrow (Monday) or latest by Saturday. There is no-one actually working there - I saw no-one working there yesterday, and no-one working there this afternoon. There are 2 'fences' of metal poles sticking up out of the water either side of this bridge, there's no way any boat will be sneaking through. I too heard that Calder & t'Hebble Canal may not be open until the end of June. Do contractors like spinning jobs out for as long as possible? Does the Pope poo in the woods?! Luckily, we like this part of England, and Northerners do seem to be friendlier than in the South of England. Big 6 pub visited - thanks for pointing to it! By the way, this to ask: if plugged into 240v shore electricity and Mastervolt charging batteries, is it OK for engine to be running and alternator also charging them? Does the Mastervolt 'intelligent' charger sense the alternator and shut its outpourings off? Or do they both keep charging the batteries until fully charged is sensed?

It's for donuts, stoopid!

Only yesterday someone asked me isn't there a map showing stoppages and problems on the canal network. Surely it's something very easy to do?

Touche! That's why when you put 1, 2 popped up!

I bet 360 of these had engines that were knackered!

It would be interesting to see the breakdown of that, first as an estimate and then when it's finished. But what is 11.5 million these days? Thanks for all this info, it's good enough for us to know we can 'go somewhere' and not just round and round the basin! "As I understand it the Rochdale is stuck with the landslip as the ownership of the slipped land is still unknown" - this I find to be entirely bizarre. Perhaps they just don't want to be liable for the damage and have made themselves scarce??!! If the Calder & Hebble / Aire & Calder are not open until the end of June, it will make an interesting twist to our Summer plans... perhaps up the Huddersfield Narrow instead of the Leeds & Liverpool? Has anyone heard is the HNC damaged/open?

I've just read that the Calder & Hebble is closed, and looking at CRT's stoppages it does indeed seem to be closed all the way to Wakefield. Until the end of June I read ??!! So.... er.... if you happened to have moored overnight in Sowerby Bridge in January, I guess you'll be granted more than the 14 days limit?! Does anyone know if it's even possible to get to Salterhebble from Sowerby Bridge?

I also gave one but I was too modest to mention it.

Hillmorton Marina - we were there last March-June. There's no noise from the trains or the pub, we found it a pleasant spot and the people friendly, boaters & marina staff. There's a boat workshop there, and a chandlers shop that seems well supplied, and they have a washing machine for boaters' use too! The bus stop is close and buses about every 20-30 mins, but if you walk half a mile towards Rugby buses comes out of a side road also, so are more frequent. Sometimes buses run direct from the railway station, otherwise you have to change in the town centre. Going by taxi to the railway station is probably the same as the bus fare though! The 'Hungry Horse' (Royal Oak) pub is OK, a bit like a Wetherspoons but nicer - we had many meals there and no complaints.

Yikes! This may be what we have! New regulator put on September. Has worked apparently OK. Will have to check the label for sure. How does it go for guarantees of work done?, as we paid someone to put ours on. Where are these things made? China?!!?? June 2010 - Sept 2015 - that's a longish period, how many of these units have been produced? Millions? What's the real story behind this? I assume the 'field testing' has been made by those who bought 'em, eh?! Are boats automatically now uninsured if they are fitted with one of these? I mean, if I were an insurance company, I wouldn't like to be risking money on boats and caravans that are likely to flare up all of a sudden! 'Red sky at night = Oops! My boat's alight!" ??!! (and does the time period suggest that failures have been noticed more in the older units, meaning one manufactured in 2013 is liable to be more OK than one made in 2011 for instance?) (well, they're celebrating 60 years of 'expertise' according to themselves http://www.clesse.eu/com/images/PDF/International_Catalogue.pdf ) Also this: http://www.aquafax.co.uk/images/aceimages/PDF's/Clesse-BP1803%20Regulator%20Notification.pdf