Hawthorn

Our favourite was over-hearing a dad requesting/pleading with his teenage daughter as he walked with her along the tow-path to another lock ... ' if you'll just give me the next three days of your life......' Teenage daughter would presumably have been happier at the dentist!

Why are you sending thanks to the wine in the fridge?......

The curve of normal distribution will show that some of the target audience will have mental age of seven. Although I do not know if boaters fit a normal demographic, or whether there is a greater or fewer number who have cognitive difficulties, there is no reason at all to try and snipe at CRT if they are trying to be inclusive and make sure they communicate with all their stakeholders. Actually it would be better if you were critical of them because they do not make their written material accessible. As matter of fact, readability is key factor in good communication, the Sun newspaper has a reading age of 8-9 years and the Guardian 13-14. The piece you mention has a reading age of 16-17. I suggest that if the letter were written personally to you, then you would be justified in feeling patronised, but to suggest that CRT should only address those of average to above average cognitive ability when they publish open letters, is discriminatory. The Campaign for Plain English would prefer that shorter words and shorter sentences were used in all official documents. However - good communication is best served when there is nothing that gets in the way - and incorrect spelling does get in the way. With word processing there is no excuse for that.

There we go! its the reason Im not rich, .... by the time I have a good idea, some-one else has already had it, patented it, spent a bloody fortune on r&d and then found it doesn't work, put the company in the wife's name and then gone bankrupt!

If you are compliant then the question of whether you are using the boat 'bona fide' for navigation will never arise. I suspect everyone knows exactly what 'bona fide' means, the big question they want answered, and which never will be, I hope, is 'how far must I travel in order to make sure no-one ever questions whether I am using the boat 'bona fide for navigation' Here's a suggestion, its the boat that needs to move, not the people, so why don't all you peeps who just want to stay within a 5 mile range of where you are, form a network, cruise to your cruising limit and then swop your boat with someone else. Before you know where you are the boats can have travelled hundreds of miles and you have stayed put. Unless of course this wouldn't work because your boat is actually your home and you want your home to stay on the same small length of canal.

Have you tried Vicarage farm near sea brook locks - that would be closest to Dunstable, or Welton Haven? its on the Leicester arm just north of Whilton, very basic, with two basins - no further than Ventnor

Public bodies do not have to answer FOI requests if the answer is available elsewhere.

Perhaps it's a deterrent, and becomes neither a penalty nor a charge unless someone overstays. CRT does not want people to overstay. If someone chooses to overstay, then that behaviour has consequences. The consequences involve administrative activity which would not otherwise be required. Additional administrative activities incur an additional financial cost. I am happier that CRT recover that cost from the person whose selfish behaviour has resulted in that cost, rather than ignore it.

You have to search through it, but eventually on p 40 of the CRT Annual report and Accounts published annually, last one either June or July last year you will find these figures 'As at 31 March 2015 there were 32,773 (2014: 32,440) boats with a licence issued to use the Trust’s waterways (excluding boat licences for one month or less). This represents a small increase of 0.9% compared with the equivalent figure as at 31 March 2014. Boating and mooring statistics for the years ended 31 March:'

if you search really hard you can find some docs from CRT. I'm just looking at one called Re-pricing of 12 month mooring permits 2015 Moorings area report for Bucks and Herts. It names all the CRT and private providers in order to justify their own prices. There are no contact details but with the names of the providers you might be able to find those by other means. I assume (could be foolish) that CRT has produced similar reports for other areas. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/8793-buckinghamshire-and-hertfordshire-market-area-report-2015.pdf

Very succinctly put. ....'reasonable in the circumstances...' depends on the circumstances. Not moving in the direction of your choice, because the direction of your choice is not available may be considered reasonable by some, it may be considered unreasonable by others. WV decided that he would alert CRT. This is an acid test. If it was thought that overstaying was not reasonable, he would have received a pretty clear piece of advice. As was stated they cannot give permission, but if they disagree with you as to the definition of what is 'reasonable' in a given set of 'circumstances', they can refer this to a higher authority for determination.

Had a walk along the canal there a couple of weeks ago. The pontoon moorings in the small basin are visitor moorings. The 6 linear ones that have newly come on stream are long term leisure, but with the possibility of 3 becoming residential, if there is sufficient interest! Love this idea, only one person wants a residential mooring, so will that not be 'sufficient interest'?. Perhaps they are thinking security and want three boats for safety. Ironic that they evicted the residential boats that were there! No car-parking offered though.

Mmmm.... good point! I'll change that to being a 'boater without a home mooring'.

There are loads and loads and loads of places along the canal that boaters can pull in for the night too. I rather think this article was about the unfairness of being expected to move at all, once you have found somewhere you like. Actually I understand this, as in London, if you do risk moving, you might find it hard to find another spot that suits you so well, unless your friends save it for you. ( Based on my very limited experience of trying to do that two years ago. Gave up, moved out, back to my long term mooring. No pleasure being a wandering vagabond, so can only imagine how difficult it is to try and be a continuous cruiser in London now.

Just realised I was looking in the wrong place, its Dacorum Council. Still can't find it though, so presumable not actually gone to planning yet.