PeterCr

Thanks everyone, there's some good ideas there, agreed about Dover Castle, we saw that a few years ago and were most impressed. I'd go again if I was down that way some time. Now to just put it all together and weave it into a cruise. Cheers

Anyone been to both We went to Warwick castle last year and I agree, nice castle but the commercialisation does get on your nerves a bit. Kenilworth we might keep for next year and Bletchley is probably a bit too far for this year too. Another time. One of the best castles we've seen is on the Llangollen. We were coming back along the canal a couple of years ago and just came across it by chance, I can't even remember the name. But it was a great castle. Anyone been to both the Newark air museum and Coningsby and if so which in your opinion was better?

Thanks Ray, we were both typing at the same time ☺️

Thanks Alan, we've got a car courtesy of my inlaws who live in Nottingham, my wife was born in Nottingham so we've pretty much seen the sights of Nottingham. It is a nice castle and I love the old Trip to Jerusalem pub with the rooms carved out of the stone. I think if we cruise down to Newark they can meet us and take us to the museum. And yes it looks from the photos like the castle is a bit of a ruin but it also looks like a nice market area next to the mooring as well, also worth a look. I'll take a look at the tourist website, see if we're lucky enough to find a reenactment. Fingers crossed for the tunnels. But interested in RAF Coningsby, unless it's near the canal we'd have to convince the inlaws to do another car trip. I'll check it out. Southwell Minster sounds good too. We do like a good cathedral, every time I go to London I like to take a peek inside St Pauls. So I'll take a look at getting to the cathedral too.

Cheers Ray, I'll take a look. And you're right about Hack Green. It wasn't just my son who got into it, I found it fascinating, though a bit scary. We just came across it by chance and spent quite a few hours there.

My son is joining us next week for a couple of weeks, and he loves all things to do with castles and WW1 and 2 stuff. We took him to Tamworth castle a couple of years ago and he loved it and we also found an old nuclear shelter that we could tour, right next to the canal, he got right into that too. Was on the Shropshire if I remember correctly. And he loved the Imperial War Museum. So we'll take him from Nottingham down to Newark to the castle and air force museum, then back through Nottingham possibly to Fradley and Braunston way. Does anyone know of any good castles or WW1 or 2 sites or museums in that area within walking distance of the canal? I know about the National Arboretum at Alrewas, coincidentally I'm in Alrewas at the moment and should go but it's raining! I think it's big enough to be an all day outing, not so nice in the rain.

Thanks Dan, I had done some reading here yesterday and I'd got the impression that it was worth doing. Nowadays with the dry weather though it can't hurt to check! Cheers

We're considering a few days up the Erewash. I thought to ask, in these days of low rainfall and water levels, if anyone has been up there recently. If so how are the water levels? Any other concerns? Thanks

After a long time reading both here and washer dryer reviews I get the impression that they really don't dry all that well and that even if I got one it would still require some sort of hanging out of the clothing to finish the job. So if we're going to be hanging clothes out to dry we may as well do it from scratch, though I don't like the thought of drying clothes in the boat. Condensation problems perhaps. But unless we're moored up and it's a nice day I don't see too many other options. So considering just a plain washing machine now.

Yes space is the issue for getting one of each, sadly. And I do believe they use water on the drying too, a little counterintuitively.

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Hi all, I've been considering buying a washer dryer for the boat, to run off a 3kw vetus pure sine wave inverter, only to be operated with the motor running. Cold washing only. I've had the suggestion made that Candy washing machines are the most common washing machines in boats, and are a good option as they are relatively basic so more likely to work with an inverter. But I don't know if this necessarily means that a Candy washer dryer is the best option. Does anyone have any experience buying a washer dryer and have any good tips to offer, including on brand? Cheers.

I had a new one today going through Nuneaton. A bunch of kids fishing on the towpath. One tried to hook me with the hooks hanging off the end of the rod and another threw a handful of maggots at me. Not hurt in the least but I did have to pull my shirt off and pick maggots out of my pants and sweep a whole lot of wriggling multi coloured maggots off the deck.

It's open again, they had the pound filled (and those above it sufficient for navigation) by just after lunch. This morning there was 2 guys there who knew exactly what they were doing. They were local, lived less than a mile or 3 away, and knew every lock and pound. They were on call yesterday all day (and one even complained that he couldn't have a drink as he was on call) and they were never called. Instead of calling the guys who knew the area and were ready to go they called someone who had no idea, not her fault. The 2 guys were quite disappointed they weren't called, they said they would have worked through the night to get the water up, but they didn't know. At least they got started this morning and by about a bit after lunchtime it was navigable. Disappointing to see that the workboats had windows smashed and anything else available destroyed, including all the wiring for the machinery pulled out and trashed.

Yes exactly. I asked the woman why she didn't know and she said they were emergency staff and they had to cover an area from Wales in the West down to about Stratford, and here and somewhere high up to the North. She'd never been here before. I asked if she had some sort of map or other information from CRT showing the reservoirs or other useful information and she said that she had nothing.

Currently we're stuck on the GU coming out of Leicester going south. Late this afternoon some kids have completely drained a pound a couple of locks up from where we are at bridge 105. I've had a look and it's about 6 inches deep. They also untied some CRT workboats which have floated all round the canal and have smashed all the windows on the boats. There's a woman from CRT there and another person coming but although they've closed the paddles they don't know where water will come from, so can't comment on whether it will be up tomorrow or not. If you're heading this way I'd take it easy until there's more news. Not good for us if it's a long process, no winding holes anywhere around here. Cheers

Yes we're thinking of that too, and today I'll be looking at hire boats as we would dearly like a month or so on the water this summer, so perhaps it's a hire boat again and get serious about buying a little down the track as you suggest. Maybe the perfect boat will come up as we're hiring, who knows. One issue also is that we are looking for a nice boat in reverse layout. There are very few really good reverse layout boats on the market, and we keep hearing that reverse layout is what everyone else wants, probably for the same reasons. So we're wondering if we should just forget about the reverse layout and look at traditional layouts. More to choose from.

Yes quite. I have thought of that and it's one of the reasons I'm considering coming over now. Summer is almost upon us and I haven't found the perfect boat yet so if we want to do some boating this summer that might have to be it!

Hi Mike, my wife is English (well now Australian but originally from Nottingham) and we've been over there many times and hired many times over the years. Usually a month at a time, and as I'm now retired and she's retiring we'd love to do longer periods, including quite a few months this year then about 6 next year. Beyond a certain point it doesn't make so much sense hiring. As well as that this is our retirement activity, and as we can afford it we'd like our own boat. As for coming over I've spent months tossing up with that. It's not quite as easy as staying in a B & B and looking at boats. We've got quite specific ideas about what we're looking for and are looking at the higher end of the market cost wise, and there's very few boats that come up that we'd seriously consider. And I know what we are looking for is what quite a few people are looking for, so actually buying a boat is quite hard when competing with everyone else who are looking at the same thing. I've seen boats that we might consider sell within hours. I saw a boat come up a couple of weeks ago that we'd consider, sold within about 8 hours. The cost of perhaps months of accommodation, plus the usual airfares and car hire, is also an issue. But more so the problem is what to do to fill in my time. A boat we'd consider might come up every few weeks, and in between I'd really have little to do. To give you an idea I've spent the day looking at boat for sale websites (I've got about 60) and see one boat we'd look at seriously at the moment. (I am right now trying to follow up with a contact over there about that boat.) That being said I'm considering coming over now, and I'm looking at accommodation options, but even if I come now there's not much to look at along the lines of what we're looking for. I've watched the market for a few years and in the past I'd have a bunch of boats to look at at any time. Not so much now. So trying to buy from here isn't simple. I know many people have bought from here sight unseen but in the current market by the time I've got in contact with a broker for some more photos (there's rarely any photos of the engine for instance) and asked for some more details of some specs I'd like to see the boat is sold. I tried one broker for extra photos recently and he wasn't interested. I assume he knows the boat will sell easily (it did), so he doesn't really need to bother with me. Not easy unfortunately.

Thanks Sea Dog, it's not easy in the current market as a beginner. I'm doing my best and spending hours reading forums and researching online trying to learn as much as I can. Sadly from Australia it's doubly difficult and we've almost got to the stage of giving up and waiting to next season to see if the market cools down. Not an easy introduction into narrowboat buying for a first timer.

Thanks guys, probably being too critical. Trying to tick too many boxes. As a first time buyer, it's hard to know exactly what to make an issue of and what not to. I did research Hurth gearboxes extensively, not having heard of them before. And I recall the comment somewhere here roughly along the lines of "every time I come across a boat sitting on the side of the canal with a gearbox in bits it's always a Hurth gearbox". So I figured I should make a few enquiries.

Thanks Mike, Alan. I'm actually looking at buying a boat and I'm trying to educate myself about as much as I possibly can, being an inexperienced newbie to boat buying. I'm trying not to be a Joe Public with little or no idea, as Seadog has suggested in another thread that some buyers are. I figure it's better to ask the question than wonder. I've seen boats for sale with Hurth gearboxes, and after spending quite some time reading about Hurth gearboxes here I get the idea that they aren't the best gearbox around. So I thought if I was to buy a boat with a Hurth gearbox it wouldn't hurt to have some idea first what it would cost to replace the gearbox if it failed. Better to know and have some funds waiting rather than get a shock if it happens. Sounds like it could be a bit of a minefield though. Not easy to educate yourself when buying your first boat, though this forum is priceless. I'm learning - gradually. But I figure the real learning will start once I own a boat!

The topic pretty much says it but I thought I'd enquire if anyone had any idea of the rough cost of buying and getting a mechanic to install a new gearbox, say a PRM 150? Does it vary much with the engine type? And what sorts of things should I be thinking about when considering getting a new gearbox? Thanks and cheers.