Richard Lacy

It was 7th September 2003 . A 20ft cruiser was returning to its moorings outside the marina after the River Regatta and capsized . There were 15 people on board and a woman drowned . Three people were arrested and the helmsman was later charged with manslaughter.

As it happens I have been offered one this week A non oil-rod e type built about 1908 . Has the reversing pump but not the pecker .Came from a Guiness barge in Ireland but now in Gloucestershire . Asking price between £5000 and £6000 . I was offered it for the Josher I am restoring - regretfully cannot afford it at the moment but if anyone is seriously interested will pass on the contact details

I keep my boat at Dadfords half way up the Stourbridge 16 flight .We have been having trouble with two seperate groups of kids over the past couple of months . One group of a girl and three boys about 7 or 8 years of age and an older teenage group . Among the things they have done is trapping a duck in one of the locks and then stoning it to death , emptying the contents of the dog bins and throwing the bags at the surrounding houses , buildings and boats , stoning boats and boaters etc . However the local boaters and residents have had enough . Some of the culprits have been identified , the local community police have been involved and now regular meetings are held with them by the locals . At least one youth has either been given or is about to be given an ASBO . The residents and boaters are now working together - two nights ago a large stone was hurled at our boat and the culprit was seen by another boater who shouted at them which in turn brought people out of the houses who gave chase .The kid looked terrified - shame . The police have asked that every incident be reported to them however insignificant - more reports will mean more resources to deal with it - so please ring them if you see anything .

Sadly I only met him once but I think one of "his" boatmen told me he had been quite a senior naval officer in WW 2 but was in command of a desk . With everything he did with the GUCCC and later Willow Wren , the huge respect his crews had for him - he has to be one of the major figures in canal history .

As a change from being asked to slow down when on tickover , several times recently I have been asked to speed up by anglers when passing through a fishing match . It would seem that when the water is clear the fish go off feed and they want a fast moving boat to stir up the mud and improve the fishing . Going through one large match on the Shroppie earlier this year my arm was aching when I had eventually passed all of them as several would shout speed up , then a few who were catching wanted me to slow down , next couple speed up and so on . After 200 anglers I needed to pull into the side for a rest. So next time someone shouts at you to slow down - you can respond "I am doing my bit for improvements to the angling "

River Severn Gloucester to Worcester Maximum Length 135 feet Maximum Beam 22 feet Headroom 23 feet 6 inches Worcester to Stourport Maximum Length 89 feet Maximum beam 18 feet 11 inches Headroom 20 feet Unless you are going for some ex sea going craft cannot see you will have any problems and even then the odd coaster used to get up to Worcester . The largest craft to use it now is the HotelBoat Oliver Cromwell - I think its one of the biggest if not the biggest vessel on any inland waters in this country - also ireverently known as "The Block of Flats" Richard (Onetime Diglis River Locks keeper )

There has been some sort of structural failure in the dock wall and the wide locks cannot be used . Investigations are underway but apparently the narrow locks are still useable . the contact number for latest information is 01606 723800

Thanks for letting me know - will see if I can put that right . Hawkesbury - when on the way to and from events we usually try and find an intermediate point with a possible connection with the boats , spend the weekend there and open the boats to the public , ie let them look round the cabins etc . The locals seem to like it and we see a lot of the older people who would not normally visit a canal event - many have really interesting memories of th the canals in their commercial days and the boats being present really gets them started on recounting them . We have had many fascinating times like this and have met quite a few ex working boat family members this way .

We still use them particularly when working a butty through the lock . The steerer gets off as the boat is still moving into the lock , drops the offside paddle then steps on to the walkway or beam and takes a turn round the post with a strap , the boat still moving forward pulls the gate shut which also slows the boat and the steerer rides the gate so he can drop the other paddle . You may also have noticed on some of the Tardebigge Locks there is a small iron hook on the tail stonework . This was to give double purchase on the horse towing line to give the boat a good start out of the lock . If you want to see how it works with horse boats there is a film entitled Towpath Encounter which features GIFFORD and NORTHWICH both horse drawn using these locks and showing how it was done . Its available on both VHS and DVD from The Working Boat Project as are others which have recorded the old ways of working .

If its the same as the Severn and you go on the river against official advice - then your insurance is automatically invalid. How much does a helicopter rescue cost ? A Full turnout of emergency services will not be cheap either .

Ellesmere Port to Marple is the nearest we will be to you this year (We were at Preston Brook last year) . You would be very welcome to join us for a trip or just a day . Contact me via the email on the Project web site and I will send you some gen .

The Severn was already up by 10 feet at the weekend and closed to navigation with masses more water still to come down from the upper reaches plus heavy rainfall forecast for the catchment area . Stourport is already filling with boats waiting for a drop in levels - hopefully it will all have run off in time for Saul Festival . Apparrently reservoirs in the area are at normal levels for this time of year .

Nice idea to save some more - but we have enough to go on with for the foreseable future thank you but it will be interesting to see what the end list of boats the Museums intend keeping will be . Very large amounts of cash will be needed whatever the situation . Ex FMC Motor SHAD from Ellesmere Port will be operating as part of our fleet from July onwards at events in the Midlands for the rest of the season and hopefully next year will be joined by the ex FMC butty NORTHWICH from Gloucester.

For those of you interested in Working Boats our new web site has just gone on line . The site address is www.heritageworkingboats.org.uk

The Training Boat at Norbury is Shropshire Lass operated by T.R Boathandling , 38, Waterside Court , Gnosall , Stafford ST20 0AR . Tel 01785 824 012 or 07947337492 email shropshirelass@trboating.fsnet.co.uk