DRP

Stop worrying, and enjoy it. Here's inspiration for you; Margaret is 5feet 2ins, 71/2 stone and "well over 21". You'll soon find you don't need the bow thruster, and certainly not the silly stick thing on the tiller. Welcome to the world of fat boats!

The Taylors boats are lovely, and really valuable pieces of canal history. But there are two snags. One - I can't look at them without thinking about Eric Sykes, in "The Bargee"( I know the boat in the film wasn't one of these); and I haven't got a blazer! Two- There are a lot more wazzocks about in heavy steel boats than there were in their heyday, and I'd be worried taking them out; and pressure washing and blacking is easier than scraping and varnishing. The Greenlaw: after all the hilarity has died down, it remains a lovely boat. All those luxury features - makes us feel like a lot of scruffy beggars; although it might benefit from ditching some of the flowers, crocheted frills and furbelows, and maybe some of the solar panels. Unless of course the JP is just for show, and it's really powered by an electric motor.

Don't worry about the swing bridges. The two between Parbold and Burscough are far enough apart that you may want to put someone off to operate them and then pick them up again each time. They are electric. One has manual barriers; the other electric - it's obvious when you get there. The first two after Burscough are electric, and close enough together to be worthwhile the bridge operator staying off. Then, it's quite a long way to the next electric one at Bridge 20. This one's in a rather exposed position in the middle of nowhere, where crosswinds can give you a bit of bother if it's windy, but nothing too bad. Bridge person back on after this one. Bridges 16(electric lights and wedges, but you push it),15(electric operation), 14(pedestrian bridge-easy remember vandal key), and 12(electric operation) through Maghull are walkable (bike would be better); so you could avoid a lot of stopping and starting. The last one you have to do yourself is Bridge10.This is a farm bridge, and manual; the lock on it can be fiddly(BWB key and vandal key).You'll probably want to stop here overnight, to be ready to meet the CRT men at Hancock's Bridge in the morning. It's more sheltered if you go through the bridge. If you then walk across the bridge and up the track through the farmyard into Melling, you'll be able to buy the bridge operator drinks and supper in the Bootle Arms. Or you could motor on to the next bridge, and go to the Horse & Jockey . The CRT men won't let you through Hancocks Bridge before 9.30 am, because the yummy mummies in Range Rovers turn ugly if anything interrupts the school run.(I know . . . Liverpool . . . genteel as f***!).They then do the next one for you, and that's it. They'll almost certainly do the footbridge by the yard at Litherland, but if you miss them it's no big deal. It's worth remembering that the Litherland yard is the last place you can empty the loo without a lot of faffing and expense. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Well if property prices are going to crash after Brexit, obviously all we have do do is wait and then snap it up for a fraction of the current asking price.Although I have to admit I've never liked London very much. Still, try not to worry about it, eh?

We have been in and out of Liverpool several times last year, and once so far this year. If you're worrying about its old "Tiger country" reputation, don't. If you can get a booking to go down" the link", do it. Then you can tie up in Salthouse Dock, right next to the centre of the city, and be as safe as houses. If you don't want to go into the docks, we've had a couple of perfectly pleasant stays at Eldonian Village; you can easily get the bus into town from there. I think the CRT "yard" at Litherland is somewhere you could get away with staying for a couple of days; there is a huge Tesco right next door. Our impression is that nowadays Liverpool is no worse than anywhere else, and we have met with nothing but friendliness , even from the drunks and hoodies on the towpath.

Update on Poolstock: Message from Steve Bergquist at CRT to say that CRT guys worked through Easter weekend shifting silt from behind the gate. Both top gates now go fully back; so the fat boats should be able to get to Liverpool in May

Who's got £1000 in cash, amongst the stag and hen partying folks,these days? They mustn't get many takers. I regularly see people buying their lunchtime sandwich with a credit card - maybe I just live in a poor place.

Re my post above:I've just had a message from Steve Bergquist of CRT North West, to say that they are hoping to have sorted out the Poolstock problem by the end of this week. Neil2: We hadn't been up the Wigan flight for nearly 20 years until last year, and couldn't believe how much better it is than it used to be.Instead of a scrubby wasteland with Evostick - filled crisp packets (other contact adhesives are available),behind every bush, it's more like a country park; indeed at a couple of places looking down the flight on a sunny day, it could almost give Hatton a run for its money. But even if people weren't visiting the main 21, and going towards the Pennines, the Poolstock locks are the route most people from away take if they're going to Liverpool, and you would have thought CRT would want to encourage them.(Or I would, anyway). . . . and if you could see it from the perspective of someone who doesn't live in the Cairngorms, Wigan's not that bad.

It's been like this for at least three years. The lower lock at Poolstock leaks like a sieve;to a large extent due to the mitres on the gates being ground off about a foot above water level (wonder how that happened?), and according to CRT a dodgy ground paddle. It didn't used to matter too much, because the upper lock leaked equally badly and kept the pound more or less topped up.However, since they made such a good job of rebuilding the upper lock two years ago, it now doesn't leak at all - hence the problem seen in the photograph. We had a very difficult time with the travels of the Ribble last year;made worse by the fact that the offside top gate on the bottom lock has a steadily increasing pile of silt behind it, preventing it from fully opening.Ribble stays permanently at Leigh, so we had a difficult time getting her up the lock, only barely squeezing through. On our return in the Autumn, we only got into the lock by heavily greasing the rubbing strips, taking a run at it, and then at full throttle thrashing the stern from side to side with the aid of a rope on the bank, and painfully slowly inching in. CRT were told about this, but have obviously done nothing about it all Winter. The weekend before last, the Severn went on an exploratory trip to see if things had improved. It was impossible to get her out of the lock and she had to reverse nearly a mile to turn round and come home. The mood of the crew wasn't improved by a lock-keeper telling them that they couldn't get the boat out because of faulty technique on their part, but they did manage to speak to someone from CRT with a functioning cerebral cortex,who assured them that the problem would be sorted out by the beginning of May, when we are all hoping to go to Steam on the Dock,in Liverpool. Let's hope it is, or we'll be going by bus.

Absolutely no question ; do the course! I did one earlier this year - after 30 years of boating. It was a great laugh, and I learned a lot. If you pm me, I'll tell you who to go to. We've just got back from a 5-week trip on the short boat Ribble.I can hardly tell you the kinds of suicidal stupidity we have witnessed from presumably experienced boat owners. Some of these clowns might be the ones who give you friendly advice. David.

Well, to get back to this trip by the Ribble: The point of the trip was to be a "fringe" event to the L&L200 celebrations.The aim was to show a loaded short boat crossing the canal,to bring pleasure to those who knew what they were looking at (and lots of people indicated their enthusiasm), and to show the ignorant that canal boats aren't just holiday narrow boats with boxes of flowers on the roof. Massive thanks are due to AC Aggregates for the supply of the sand, and to NW Trading in Goole who loaded the sand.The CRT staff and volunteers we met were all enthusiastic and helpful in the extreme.With one honourable exception, the support of CRT local management could best be described as lukewarm - no that's exaggerating; it wasn't that good. The canal on the Yorkshire side, is mostly very good to good, and we had almost no problems. On the Lancashire side, it varied from much better than expected from Wigan to Liverpool,to utterly appalling in Blackburn, and on the outskirts of the smaller towns like Rishton, Clayton-le Moors, and Nelson.It doesn't really matter what the indicator boards say, if the bottom of the canal is too near the top! I'll be writing a serious report to CRT, but there has been far too much blather in this topic, so I'll just say if you haven't visited the L&L you must;if you've only got a full length narrow boat, hire or borrow a boat that will fit - you won't be disappointed. But take enough crew with you; a lot of the equipment is heavy. Here are a few pics Loading in progress Dwarfed by the Aire And Calder locks OK not down to the side decks but still looking the part Waiting for the 5-rise Burnley On the Wigan 21. Eat your heart out Hatton. Dean Lock Top of Liverpool locks.This is as near as we could get to the original terminus of the canal. Ribble is at the CRT yard at Rose Grove waiting to be unloaded before continuing into Yorkshire to join the Kennet's commemorative progress.

Something like this,you mean? (Picture courtesy of David Lowe) David.

Fantastic job Kris! You must be hugely relieved to be mobile again ( so must CRT, I'd guess - although you'll be able to keep ahead of them now!) David.

Yes, Yes. Please do ! David.

Even if it isn't quite what's shown on Comrade, it's still pretty impressive. Well done! David.

Thanks,Tony. I've done "knitted" covers for narrowboat fenders, and got the skinned fingers to prove it. I'll follow your suggestion and give it a go. I rather think that given thick enough rope, simply making a Monkey's Fist would result in a pretty bulky and robust stem fender. It does seem to me that although wooden boats in the North retained "brightwork" to be proud of, there was never the same preoccupation with "clothing up" that the narrow boaters showed. Even very tidy short boats like those in Pluto's photos had sheeting up that would make Tracy Emin's famous bed installation look quite tidy! David.

KarlosMacronius, sorry if this looks like a hi-jack of your thread. Perhaps I should have started a new one "Traditional Ropework :Barges". Giant, now that's the thing I've seen on Yorkshire boats of all kinds - all we need now is someone to show us how to make one! Pluto, were the little fenders on the stern to stop the rudder smacking into the transom in locks? - And patterns for wooden fenders.What would those have looked like? I'm getting the feeling that once they started building Short Boats out of steel, not only did they abandon fancy painting, but they forgot about rope work as well. Perhaps it would be traditional to stick with our collection of grotty old scrap tyres ,after all! David.

Right, that's narrow boats sorted. I'd very much appreciate similarly authoritative advice in relation to "fat" boats - particularly Leeds and Liverpool short boats. Present day practice seems to be inventive combinations of old tyres, with various additions of rope or chain . I've read that some boaters on the L&L made it a matter of pride not to use fenders at all, regarding them as a sign of poor boating skills - but I haven't enough time left to reach that level of skill! David.

No, it's not sparks. It's simply obnoxious behaviour. I deliberated for a long time before joining these forums because of the frequency of un-moderated aggressive rudeness like this; and it looks as though it won't be long before I leave again. David.

The same Thomas that's on the weir at Castleford? - Forever, now they've built their stupid footbridge, and missed the opportunity to get the Thomas off while they were busy. David.