John Brightley

There is a hard surface. MOT type 1 material below 50mm of gravel. This video explains more: Watch to the end as it shows the laying process. Yes, more gravel has to be added occasionally, dependent on the use.

Yes.

I'm using a Moto g6 plus. The 'sign Out' line on your screen shot is covered by the 'current achievement rating' for me today. It wasn't like that yesterday. Thanks for looking at it.

I'm viewing the site on a mobile and suddenly the format of pages has changed slightly this morning compared to how it was yesterday. Most notably on my account page I can't sign out of the site as the 'current achievement rating' window is overlapping the personal sign in menu, so the 'sign Out' line cannot be seen. Is there any way we can have an option to turn off the 'current achievement rating'?

Self-binding gravel can be a number of different colours. If it's laid properly there shouldn't be any residue sticking to shoes. After a few years though, mud can get mixed with it, or ponding of water can occur, and cause the situation you describe when it will need topping up with new gravel to get to the correct consistency again. Sustrans and other organizations which fund footpath and cycle path works usually work to these principles too.

Just to clarify a little further, Breedon gravel is the most commonly used self-binding surface (in my experience here in the Midlands) -see this link: https://www.breedon-special-aggregates.co.uk/breedon-golden-amber-gravel/ , but a number of other natural stones in different parts of the country have self-binding qualities so usually the most local one is used. Another name for a similar surface is 'hoggin'.

No, I don't think so. Self-binding gravel is a very different surface to tarmac and looks very different (it's usually a very different colour for a start) so there shouldn't be any reason why people seeing a self-binding surface would confuse it with tarmac.

I'd also recommend the four counties and the Weaver. The Weaver is much under-rated but is a lovely river, comparable to the Thames in parts (but much quieter). Hire from Anderton, do the 4 Counties ring first, then you will know exactly how much time you've got left over to spend on the Weaver.

I've been following them for a while too. They seem to be genuinely nice guys and it's nice to see how excited they are about the boat. They're based by the Isle of Sheppey so they will have a few creeks and rivers to try it out on once it's finished.

As I understand it, craft travelling upstream would pass through the flash lock after the boats going downstream. There is an account in " To Maintain and Improve - The History of the Lower Avon Navigation Trust" (DH Burlingham, 2000) of the use of Pershore Watergate (which I believe was the UK's last flash lock to be used) in 1953, which says that boats arrived before 8pm. The gate was winched closed, the paddles closed and by 9am the next morning the river had risen enough for boats to proceed. The book also includes photos of the barge Pisgah going up through the gate in 1955.

The Grand Western Canal might be a possibility if you can find a mooring. https://www.friendsgrandwesterncanal.org.uk/

Yes, CRT is a charity. https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/-/charity-details/5027494

Birmingham & Midland CCCo boat "Barbara" was Grand Union CCCo "Argon", and is still around as "Argon", now converted, according to the Historic Narrow Boat Club website.

I think you've been very lucky. Most experienced boaters wouldn't do it. It's simple to take the rope off the stud and coil it away out of the way to avoid any issues.

Actually, you can't, and you can miss out on a lot if you don't have OS paper maps or something similar on board. I use all types of maps a lot, and though it's great to have both Google maps and OS mapping on my phone, I still use paper maps simply because you can look at a much bigger area in detail in one go than you will ever see on your phone.

There is a great benefit in getting some paper copies of 1:50,000 OS maps of the area you're cruising through, as they will show you much more information on the area surrounding the canal than you can ever see on your phone. It puts everything else in context. And paper maps or books can easily be protected from the weather by using a map case. You won't need it to be outside all the time anyway - you can keep it just inside the cabin most of the time.

I've looked at the consultants report and it says the local council demanded full navigational headroom of at least 30 metres, because they want to continue having tall ships events at Newry in the future. One of the consultants options provided this with a higher fixed bridge, but this was much more expensive than the option chosen by the central government highways department, who have just gone with the cheapest option. Patrick - you have the experience and knowledge to provide the council with the information to help them prove the addition of a lifting bridge to the 'cheap' option will be financially worthwhile. I hope you can work with them to achieve it.

Great! They say the proposed fixed bridge will have a clearance of 12 metres. As a comparison, what's the height of your mast ? Many boats masts fold down anyway, so I'm wondering how many boats it will exclude. Edit: for comparison, the air draft of the Crinan and Caledonian Canals is about 28 metres. Edit 2: the cruise ship "Lord of the Highlands" (which operates on the Caledonian Canal) is 42m by 9m so could fit through the Newry Ship Canal lock, but I can't find it's air draft online unfortunately.

These are the proposals for the non-opening bridge: https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/news/non-opening-fixed-bridge-proposed-newry-ship-canal

Excellent video about a canal I didn't know anything about so I've learnt a lot and would encourage you to put it on YouTube so that more people can enjoy it. Thanks.

One of the Birmingham booklets is now for sale here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175758581192

Yes, there are several clips taken in the north-west interspliced in the Braunston episode, notably of the Nixon's on Lindsay and Snipe. Perhaps the most amusing one of these is the view of a sign saying 'Repair Yard' which is actually a shot of Hayhurst Repair Yard, Northwich. However the film crew did manage to get a shot of the Bray family on Nutfield and Raymond which is taken at Braunston. We also have the shots in this episode of the boats Belfast and Nuneaton which should be of interest to some members of this forum who are involved with those boats today in 2023.

I know the answer but I have the unfair advantage of local knowledge so I'm not going to say ! Nice set of photos David.

Thanks for posting the links. I've not seen them before.

If it is Chance 2 (and it appears to be), then previous threads said it was at Chester, then moved to Hurleston about the time you say, found it couldn't get up the Llangollen, was taken back to Nantwich and craned out there.