scrumpylurcher

Just received a note from George Dickinson of CRT at Braunston to say that 3 boats were broken into in the same area at the same time. Seems like Mike and Starry were not the only ones.

How open do you need it to be. Both the glazed quarter panels are hinged and lift out on ours, you are left with the vertical centre board, which carries the tunnel light and horn. You also have the horizontal board going from the cabin forward to the front. The cover rolls up and is strapped to that.

I don't think any sensible person be they trader, boater, or CRT inspector, would even make a note of someone trying to sell the odd bit of surplus kit. But I suppose there in lies the problem, how many sensible people do we meet. I was reported by a fellow trader some time ago, I was legally licenced but BW had slipped up with the disc. On the second occasion he reported me I was displaying the correct disc. Why did the gentleman concerned not just come and have a quiet word with me, I was not even in competition with him with what I was selling.

For most traders , once you can persuade the insurance company, the cost is negligible and it is an addition to your existing policy not an all singing all dancing traders policy. It purely relates to public liability. If you ring and ask for a quote for a small traders policy as I did I was quoted £650, using advice from a fellow trader, the same company charged me about £15 to amend my existing policy, this was a one off charge. If you are trading food stuffs, selling drinks or similar you will also need hygiene certificates, if people come on your boat to view your products you require more comprehensive insurance. There are several things that could increase your start up costs depending on what you are trading in. As has already been said this insurance is purely public liability, it has nothing to do with the products you sell. I would also add that I found CRT very helpful in obtaining my licence, because of the complicated discount system, I found it impossible to follow their paperwork. I didn't experience it, but other people have suggested that CRT were selective about who and what they were prepared to licence. That was not my experience. I think that you are far more likely to be reported as a non licenced trader by another trader than to be questioned by CRT.

You can get your diesel VAT free (this is nothing to do with CRT), as a trader you are not supposed to put goods out on the towpath, they should be displayed on the boat. As regards pricing work, whilst I would love to feel that I could earn say the minimum hourly rate, you soon learn there is a price beyond which people will not generally buy. I trade on my work being all made by me - I do not buy things in, and the quality of my workmanship. I am aware that most people have budgets, they will pay extra because its hand made and I am there to explain the work involved but that extra does not always equate to time put in. I biggest objection is people who sell regularly at a price less than the material cost of the item. Most of my work is woodwork or wood turning - over the years I have had several conversations with people who are obviously skilled woodworkers - I am quite pleased by the comments they invariably finish with. That is basically in their opinion I am charging a fair price for what I am selling.

Well, we all know how many spare bodies CRT have to rush round checking on boats------------------------ or not!!!!!!! as the case may be.

The advice about requiring a licence to sell from your boat is correct, it is not a massive amount for what is considered low risk, and as has been said you should be able to persuade your insurance company to provide the public liability that CRT want for a minimal sum. You may have to persuade them, mine was quoted at £450 addit and finally cost £12 addit. Don't assume that CRT will automatically issue a traders licence, it is at their disgression and I know of several people who have struggled to meet their requests. There are benefits in buying diesel as long as your supplier will let you specify ( they only need to check your licence - but some wont ) To get the cheapest option it is important to state that the public is not allowed onto your boat.

I am sure it is your animal magic that attracts the ladies, the men are there because they want to learn.

When we did some vegetation clearance on the O/S at Braunston for CRT we were instructed to clear 1 metre in from the edge 3 metres high.

I believe last year they were positively discouraged from assisting boaters, its possible this may have led to complaints from boaters. This year they are being asked to assist, what seems to be happening though is that we have gone full circle and they are now assisting whether you want it or not. whilst we should listen to advice, the person on the back of the boat with a tiller in his hand should call the shots. A volunteer lockie shouldn't be there to instruct unless it is either asked for or he considers the boat to be in danger. There seems to me to be a case for representations to be made to CRT regarding how their volunteers should be acting. I know from talking to some of these volunteers that they do suffer from some abuse from boaters, whilst this is never really justified, we all have a trigger point where our patience is exhausted.

There could be a completely different explanation but we have recently completed a litter pick on quite an extensive section of the local GU. We found considerably less this year than we did on the same area this time last year. One thought is that people are more likely to add to existing litter, whilst sometimes thinking twice before spreading it in a litter free area. This might be a bit of a naïve assumption but it makes us feel a bit better.

If a volunteer wants to be covered by the CRT insurance he will have to go where he is directed. The insurance is conditional on you being signed in and carrying out specified duties in specific places. You also need to sign out when you finish.

That sounds like a justified rant, but without knowing more details it is difficult to place the blame. WE work in a similar way via a CRT Volunteer Team Leader, who in turn comes under a Volunteer Co-ordinator for the region. They decide your skill levels and what supervision you need and work to provide this. The CRT person should have applied warning signs to the beams, usually laminated A4 sheets (we now have our own permanent signs) to warn of the wet paint, but equally the paint used drys very quickly. THe CRT Volunteer Staff have to liase with management and ground staff to arrange work parties, provide risk assessments and method statements, if that is the stage where the system is failing you need to sit down with the co-ordinator and clarify exactly which jobs you would like to do. THey should be able to explain what you can do, if training or supervision is required provide that and then arrange for the work to take place. If there are reasons why you cannot do certain tasks that should also be explained. To be fair, these systems are in there infancy, often with staff new to CRT. I can assure you that the system, though not perfect, is working well in the South East and the idea is that the best parts of the regional systems will become the National System. It is often frustrating, but when it comes good it is very rewarding for everybody. Please try to percevere with talking to CRT, in some cases we are trying to changes systems that have applied for a lifetime.

I know of at least one instance where a volunteer is now a full time employee as bank staff. He also had, and gained from, working alongside, amongst other, a 40 year service banksman who was retiring. The knowledge and skills are not being lost.

I can only really speak for the CRT South East Region since that is the area we work in. Since taking over last year CRT have made a serious effort to rectify the faults that BW had whilst dealing with volunteers and to come up with ways of making volunteers feel wanted. Several of our team have been CAAT`s assessed for hedge trimmers and brush cutters and other areas of training are being set up. Our group is self supervising and has been able to call on assistance from other local groups to utilise other skills. We have members who only want to litter pick, we have others who are more ambitious and CRT are working with us to achieve this. The system is not perfect, it is often slow to react but it is reacting to the input from the various volunteer groups, and it continues to improve. It is far too early to say that CRT is a succes or a failure, at the moment I feel that their progress is good and the signs are encouraging. It is important however that we draw a line somewhere on what level of skills the volunteers should be encouraged to use. Once you stray in the electrical and mechanical engineering and similar practices we will be threatening the permanent employees of CRT.

I have not got involved in volunteer lock keeping, but in fact we had already reached that stage with nearly all but the staircase type locks. Posssibly not entirely relevant but I know of at least one seasonal lock keeper who had been told he would not be set on this year who has in fact been re-employed. I am not entirely happy with the way things are progressing which is why I agree with John-Cotswoldman. It is up to boaters to make themselves heard, and also to be involved in what is going on on the canals. We can gain far more respect from CRT by working with them than any opther option there is. I personally would love to see the lengthsman return to the canals, but then I would prefer pubs to concentrate on selling beer, people in general to be less selfish and many other things that just confirm me as a grumpy old git.

Most of what we do is what I consider to be cosmetic and are jobs that niether BW or CRT have done for a number of years. I spend as much time talking with the guys on the ground as I do in conversation with management at various levels. I have not had a single instance of objection to what we are doing by bankside staff in the 4 years I have been involved. When we first started lock painting I discussed our concerns with anyone thaat would listen, the answer was always the same - we do not have the time ot the staff to do it. Painting and tidying locks doesnt have much to do with the operation of the locks but a tidy well looked after lock flight does improve peoples opinions of the canals and CRT. I dont believe CRT or BW have done much in the way of litter picking for many years, but surely it is better that someone takes the job on.

Most people who have been involved with CRT since they took over last year are I believe finding the same thing. They are different to BW, they are trying to improve things incl communication but the speed at which they work can be frustrating. The decision making process involves so many different people and departments, that any outsider can be foregiven for wondering if anything will happen. I have found ways of short circuiting this process but my success has to be tempered with the problems it has caused. As Alan says - it is a long haul, but we have to keep it moving along, if we dont things will definitely get worse. I personally enjoy the volunteering we do and feel it is my way of putting something back for what I gain from the canals besides helping to save a very important part of our heritage. At least under CRT we are being appreciated, that is a major change since the BW days.

Still trading daily but usually closes at 2.00pm, not sure if she will be opening later if summer ever comes.

Quite reassuring today to get a response from Damian Kemp at CRT as a result of John sending him my details. That strikes me as a far quicker result than we would have got from BW.

I think we all need to be a bit careful that we dont overload the higher managment with trivia, that is meant in the nicest possible way. It is easy to grab an opportunity to talk to a manager and overwhelm him with problems without any solutions. If you reduce it to rather more specific problems with a possible solution you are going to be listened to more seriously. Access to managers is not a problem, and IMHO is far better that it was with BW, but, I have already had to reconsider how I use these opportunities to get the best results and not to waste them,

Any links we can make at any level within CRT I feel is for the good, Taking them out on boats is probably one of the best and if possible should be aimed at the office based employees who in some cases have never been on a narrowboat. I do however agree it should not be an excuse for complaining about everything in sight. If we can let them experiance some of the problems we have first hand, that will stick in their minds for longer. Details sent John

Whilst not wishing to encourage time wasters Avril is keen to hear from anyone who has a constructive idea. An email outlining your thoughts wont cost anything.