RevCedd

Thank you, I shall have a look at your website.

Thanks Anthony - I shall have a look at your website and use your contact form there.

I am a fairly experienced narrow boater (hiring for a number of years, now a shared owner and also a licensed skipper on the Medway) and next year I am having a three month sabbatical from work, from 1 March to end of May. I am thinking about hiring a boat for, say, 8 weeks in the middle of that period and, for some of that time, it would just be me and my dog. I have single-handed my own boat before so I know this is not a problem. However the long term boat rental companies I have seen so far want to have two people on board and no pets! Does anyone here know of anyone or any company that can offer reasonably priced rental for that time who would accept one man and his dog?

Whenever I hear people extol the virtues of beating children into submission (as some of my older relatives do) I suggest they try swapping the word 'women' for 'child'. Is it acceptable to beat a woman into submission? No, people get sent to prison for that, so on what planet is it OK to beat a small helpless person? I also find it ironic that many of the people who seem keenest on beating children and executing some criminals are also those who are most opposed to Sharia law...

Well I'm glad that my 23 years experience in the law counts for nothing in your eyes. Much better just to get confirmation of your prejudices from those more qualified.

All lawyers are 'Officers of the Court' which means, amongst other things, that they owe a constant duty not to mislead the court. If any lawyer deliberately told an untruth in court that would be a disciplinary matter.

Sorry Phil, but speaking as someone with two degrees in law, who worked as a solicitor for 16 years and has sat on the bench for 7 years I can confidently say, with the greatest of respect, that you are talking out of your derriere. If those yobs came before the Magistrates they would be doing exactly the type of community service that some here are crying out for and, if they kept appearing, they would probably end up doing some time.

A very similar incident happened to me when I was skippering a passenger boat through a lock on the Medway. Half a dozen youths boarded the boat and started going through lockers etc. When I asked them to leave one little darling threatened to break my jaw for me! Fortunately they did leave without violence. However when I tried to get through to the police they were fairly useless - the 101 number just cut me off and the Kent marine police eventually said that they couldn't do anything about that part of the river because another lock was under repair and they couldn't get their boat through. Two thoughts about community service and national service: 1. I am also a magistrate and if someone is convicted of an offence then they may well get community service. However to make it compulsory for all kids regardless of behaviour is probably wrong - my own kids have plenty going on in their lives doing GCSEs etc without picking up other people's litter; and 2. The armed forces have no desire to have national service back - why would they want to become babysitters for tens of thousands of teenagers who are there because they have to be there, rather than training highly motivated volunteers who want a career? We should always punish criminal behaviour when we catch it but I don't think there is anything to be gained by treating whole generations as if they were criminals.

After several years of owning a couple of weeks with the Canal Boat Club we have just bought into a private share syndicate. It is too early to say much about it (as we haven't used the boat yet) but the syndicate seem really nice and many have owned shares in the boat since she was launched, and some have double shares. Two weeks on the Oxford Canal coming up soon. Having said that the Canal Boat Club were OK too - choice of 8 bases etc and no worries about the boat in between trips. However the quality of the boats was not always the best, and it always seemed to be the loos that went wrong... We found our share through boatshare.co.uk.

I would second (third? fourth?) the recommendation to Llangollen but I would also strongly recommend a trip up the Montgomery - very quiet and rural and there is a very nice pub there too: http://www.thenavigation.co.uk/ However you do need to book passage through the Frankton locks and they are only open between 12 and 2 each day. A call to the Canal and River Trust the day before with your boat name is all you need or perhaps email them at enquiries.northwalesborders@canalrivertrust.org.uk. However it is worth the hassle!

We have spent a couple of nights in the City centre of Birmingham and would thoroughly recommend it - felt very safe and lots of good curry houses nearby! However wouldn't recommend overnighting in the suburbs around. So would always do a full days motoring into Birmingham and then a full day out.

Thank you! Indeed...

And therein lies the problem with the internet! I apologise for misinterpreting your intent, and if anyone does wish to lend a boat for a few months in 2018 I would not look a gift horse in the mouth (never understood that saying) and it would be very well looked after. Thank you Barnacle!

I am also hoping to win Euromillions, but I am not basing all my financial planning on that hope (although my wife seems to be). As I said in the OP I am not expecting to do this for free, just looking for some money saving tips, which many people have helpfully provided. Any speculation about my hopes, fears or dreams beyond that is probably off topic!

Thank you all for so many good ideas and comments - that is really helpful and has given me a few pointers that I hadn't considered. Thank you all!