___

It seems TAY has sold. ABNB site shows a deposit has been received.

Because I disagree with you? Laughable that you feel it important to tell me. Jon

There is an element of common membership and it leads to cross-fertilisation. I am sure there are still a few on either side who bear a grudge but they are the minority and it doesn't help either forum. They are separate entities that can and mostly do operate independently. In this case I think this forum has got things wrong and someone who a few days ago wanted to assist in an area where help is needed has been potentially lost. Hopefully she will explore more friendly avenues and receive a better response. She may not have helped herself with the inaccuracy and style of her posts but she won't be the first or last to suffer that and I will wager that if an established male member and known boater had posted that exact title and initial post the outcome would have been very different. A failure for CWDF in my book. JP Yes and this place gets more and more like it in style and content every day.

Get over it Mike. I think TB stopped being bothered about CWDF a while back. At least they have the balls to pick on folk their own size over there. JP

For clarity I wasn't accusing you of being too late; after all you can only respond after you have found the thread. I was looking at it from the OPs perspective who had received a number of less than flattering replies and assertions about her style and character prior to your offer and I think already had her mind set she wasn't interested any longer. Also I don't think either pete.i or myself were suggesting that all contributors were at fault of being less than welcoming. LadyG was supportive on a personal level and Rob-M - and I think at least one other person - did try and clarify the purpose of the thread. Sorry for the confusion, JP

Unfortunately I think it came too late and the lines had been drawn between her and the forum. I can't say i blame her but it is a shame she couldn't see fit to respond to you. It doesn't make some of the stuff above right though. JP

Oh dear, what on earth is going on here? There seems to be an assumption that the OP is a troll. Why? It seems we assign this characteristic to all newcomers. I think if you wanted to troll a forum you wouldn't do so by seeking to offer your services for what I would assume to be either voluntary or low paid casual work. I suggest a moderator adds a question mark to the thread title. I think it was the intention that it was question and it would change the tenor of the thread. It may of course be too late and an opportunity lost. JP

If you recall a bloke with a small black dog who closed a couple of gates for you near the top of the flight that was me. The bloke that is, not the dog... JP

Brilliant. Only Athy could possibly know this.

Thank you.

I have record of five sons of boating families who were killed in France during WW1; a couple of them I believe are covered in the original list. David Garrett - son of William Garrett and Harriet Neal William Humphreys - son of Richard Humphreys and Ellen (maiden name unknown) William Millard - son of Henry Millard and Caroline Bland David Neal - son of David Neal and Rebecca Thompson - he was a cousin of David Garrett above George Walley - son of Alfred Walley and Hannah Hickson The records I have show them as assisting one or both parents on family boats. In general they were too young to be captains in their own right. Although in the case of William Millard I have no direct record of him ever having been on board a boat. I can also confirm that I believe archie57 is correct abut Joe Pearsall being the brother of Arthur and Tom. Intriguing to see a near namesake - John Samuel Pegg - on the original list. I doubt he's any relation though. JP

Let's not overlook the fact we are discussing someone that in an entire working lifespan - apparently of greed and freeloading - had managed to end up living in a squalid boat which they don't now possess either. I have no doubt my lifestyle and values are a long way removed from this gentleman's but he isn't my enemy. Better to be thankful for what life has provided for yourself than rage at others who frankly must be far less fortunate in the round. JP

Three hire boats made it off the Severn into Droitwich this afternoon only to find they can't go any further because the Salwarpe is in flood and the Vines Park flood lock has been chained shut since yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately it also means my fellow permit mooring holder Steve and his family are about to spend the second night of their Easter trip still on their own home mooring.

Stourport Ring and Black Country Ring go through broadly the same areas of Birmingham and the Black Country; it depends on the specific routes chosen how much they have in common. I wouldn't say undesirable but they aren't salubrious; that's the attraction for some folk on here and I include myself in that. The Delph and Stourbridge lock flights are superb; but hard work. The Severn in August will probably be fine and if you talk to the yard before you set off they will have an eye on the conditions. The Stourport Ring is a straightforward week but it does include some lock heavy days and I doubt it's that much different from the Warwickshire Ring in terms of number of locks. The river element is half a day. If you do the Stourport Ring you could consider going from Birmingham to Tipton via the Old Main Line and moor at the Black Country Museum. Then go round to Factory locks and back to Dudley Port junction and Netherton Tunnel. You won't struggle to complete the basic ring and the literature on ABC boats will suggest the Stourbridge route rather than Wolverhampton. It will also give you some conservative advice about where (not) to moor in Birmingham. In response to Sea Dog you could do 100 locks in a weekend hire from Alvechurch if you head south for 12 miles and return. Locks are part of the fun and cruising is relaxing, JP

I've got a mock tug. More in common than we dare admit.

Yes. Just plan it out and crack on. Be prepared to cruise early in the morning and late into the evening if you need to but the chances are you won't have to. It's a fabulous route and from Alvechurch you will be going the route through Birmingham city centre. In August if you turn up early at Alvechurch you could be in Brum on the first evening. Also going clockwise you have a long lock free run home so can just put the hours in to get back if you have to; but probably won't. JP ETA - I've given Montgomery his first greeno simply for posting a question about boating. Thank god it's got back to that after the winter nonsense. Just seen the first two hire boats of the season in Droitwich this week. It's all good.

Willow is longer than 71' 6" allegedly. Second from bottom (I think) is the shortest of the Oldbury locks and it comes down to pushing the tiller toward the nearside wall so the stern - and particularly the rudder - can sit back in the arc of the cill once the lock is empty. Then with the front pushed to the offside the gate (single leaf of course) will just swing past. Fenders up for the operation naturally. Ryders Green top lock is also short and as you know Smethwick are tight but I have to be honest and say I didn't really notice when I first went through them because it's par for the course on the BCN with GU boats that you will need to manipulate them through. JP

None in Brum that can't be done though; and all while facing the right way round too. JP

I had assumed the OP recognised that the Oxford route is narrowboat only. But anyway Rugby Boats isn't in Rugby; it's at Stowe Hill just south of Weedon on the GU. Hence if we are talking about a wide beam craft the route would be straight down to Brentford.

Fully agree. I always did much more that the standard hire itineraries contained in brochures and on board literature. it doesn't come from speeding either, it's about keeping on and being prepared to cruise early and/or late in the day; which are invariably the best times of the day to cruise in any case. I can only recall being told to slow down once in years and that was by a couple sat in their saloon drinking wine at midday while moored on the outside of a bend near a bridge. I think they were alarmed by how close I was to them but they couldn't see the 60' boat on the inside of the bend going the other way. I remember it because it was an exception and it really annoyed me because I had slowed down but not as much as usual given the circumstances they had created. I would wager a decent bet that they wouldn't have said a word if the same had happened with my own boat. JP

That may be so but Peter's competent crew would be turning all the others in a flight by working ahead. He is presenting an average for planning purposes and I think as an overall representation of the network he is well out. Some river locks may take 20+ minutes but they are relatively small in number compared to narrow locks in flights where 4 minutes per lock is the other end of the scale. Something that gets overlooked is the distance travelled while traversing a flight of locks. For instance it would take about 40 minutes to cruise the length of the Tardebigge flight just based on the distance and yet the flight of 30 locks can comfortably be done in less than 3 hours by a competent crew. Therefore what appears to be 5 minutes per lock is closer to 4 minutes in true planning terms. Canal Planner suggests something like 6 hours for Tardebigge. It probably illustrates that planning rules aren't particularly good for individual trips. JP

A crew that can do 5 locks per hour may be competent, but they would also be incredibly slow.

Canals have been subsidised since they were nationalised and thankfully they have been allowed to go from a role of supporting our manufacturing industry to an essentially leisure based activity while retaining a subsidy. The lack of hard commercial thinking is the only thing that has allowed them to remain open. Better left that way rather than demanding too much in the way of levels of service. That can only end very badly for all boaters. Collectively we couldn't afford to foot the full bill for what we benefit from. Nonetheless it is very unfortunate for the local hire companies. As a hobby boater who was planning a trip via the Middlewich branch this summer and will have to change plans I accept that I don't really count in the wider scheme of things. JP

I only did the Warwickshire Ring as a single cruise once and that was in 1983 but it was from Napton. I recall we got a good start and were at Radford Semele on the first evening. We stopped for a bit in Warwick and did Hatton after lunch on the second afternoon (first full day) and were moored at Knowle top before the shops shut in the village that evening. Curdworth by the next evening. Easy from there on. Hatton top to Gas St is a long way in one day. Kingswood to central Birmingham (or vice versa) I have done a couple times by both routes recently and that's a decent day and bear in mind I think anything less than 8 hours isn't really trying. I tend to agree though that unless it's a late start on the pick up day Hatton is more likely to be on the first full day than the second. The Navigation Inn at Lapworth is one of my favourites and I just happen to have a boat short enough to be able to turn within the width of the canal adjacent to their mooring so I can take a quick detour there no matter what my route. If going via Birmingham the best plan may be to crack on to get there at the end of the second full day and then relax a bit. JP ETA - Thought I had quoted Dr Bob. It reads like I am talking to myself!