Hudds Lad

One was ashore, in fact two as J's mum had come along to "help" J had just shut the gate behind me when the paddles went up before i could even say good morning to them. They'd opened one bottom gate as they saw us approaching and then gone back to their conversation. And no, i didn't say anything to them afterwards, seemed little point. Nobody died and i knew we'd be working the rest of the locks by ourselves in a way we saw fit.

This advice all becomes irrelevant if you enter a manned-by-volunteers double lock and they whack both ground paddles up as soon as you're in (i'm looking at you Braunston bottom) and then proceed to chat to dog walkers and ignore you

Was ever thus, especially if you came across that bloke in his rowing boat

Get at least one spare cassette, cheapest way used to be buying a "freshen up kit" which contains a spare loo seat as well which invariably won't fit your loo you can then either eBay these or give them away.

I hope the skipper of that boat was wearing his brown trousers 😬

Always known it as Turnbridge, as it's on Turnbridge Road and there's the Turnbridge Working Mens Club we sometimes used to nip in for a pint after watching Town lose to whoever they were playing

Anyone got any top tips? A quick google reveals some questionable methods, including coating it with acetone/metal polish mix and setting light to it!! Basically got all the brassware off the boat (portholes, mushrooms, plank & pole rack, fairleads, tunnel light, nav lights, horn etc.) that was lacquered back in 2007 and is looking the worse for wear, so whilst she's in for paint we've been given all the brassware to clean up. I can dremel it off with wire brushes, but that's going to take forever. Is there a recommended solvent??

Met one coming down the Cheshire locks who'd hung in the lock as they emptied it on those rubber tube fenders. Passing walker told us there was a boat stuck two locks further down and by the time we got there they had got free by cutting them off and apart with a breadknife then refilling the lock until it bobbed free. They were sat on the lock landing having a little rest, the lady of the boat was quite upset and the gentleman was red in the face and covered in lock slime, said they'd been stuck in there for over an hour. We don't cruise with any on, but after that we made sure part of our setting off routine was double-checking we'd not left any fenders attached.

I lost track of the thread, did they ever determine if it was fenders or a slightly fatter boat in a slightly thinner lock?

Me too!!

Just had drop in my mailbox revised booking info for the HNC, you need to book Standedge, Marsden Flight & Lock 1E now. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/24708-marsden-lock-flight-lock-42e-to-lock-32e https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/27726-standedge-tunnel-2024-booking-information https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/26262-huddersfield-narrow-canal-lock-3e-to-lock-1e-tuesday-and-thursday-only The Marsden Flight notice contains some good excuses for lack of water

Which is odd, because if memory serves the CRT sign on the bridge says something about being customer operated and has instructions on unlocking and opening the swing bridge?

This is why Brian Cant would never work in Essex

I've just had to put some nuts and seeds out for our squirrel, the poor little beggar was looking for the ones she'd previously buried not knowing the jackdaws had been watching and snaffled the lot, i also had to stamp down the holes in the lawn she'd left in her fruitless search. I'd take a pic but she's refused to sign a waiver.

Sounds correct to me. If you ever see people going to the bins wearing bandoliers of metallic poo sausages you'll know what they're up to 😬

Well, i like it. Only been boating for nine years so it's nice to see how places i've been looked before i saw them for the first time. Thread drift is an inevitable fact of forums, unless moderated with an iron fist, and surely no-one wants that?

It's a definite improvement over a carrier bag in the back of the transit that we used in my old landscape gardening days

Erm, don't think they are supplied as standard, you provide your own. My first ever huge reverse was going back to the services at Calveley to retrieve the one i'd forgotten

Last year or the year before we were passing the location of the buoy at Ansty and it had gone, wow we thought, they got round to sorting it! A couple of miles further along we came upon a couple of CRT lads dragging it back in the direction it had come from

No doubt telling you about Robert Louis Stevenson and his dad George

Update on 15/03/2024: We need to advise that an extension is required to this stoppage. Unfortunately, the continued wet weather has made working on the site very difficult as the saturation of the exposed slip face and slumped material is making the area unstable. We cannot currently clear any material from the navigation or the side of the canal, for fear of further slips. Due to this, we’re planning to access the cutting across adjacent fields to dig down an access road to clear some of the slumped material, and then excavate the material from the navigation. We’ll need to construct a 300m access road before we can start the excavation, and then continue to work in a careful progressive manner to manage the risks of further slips. The navigation closure will therefore need to be extended beyond 6th April. With the revised plan, our current aim is to re-open the navigation by 18th May. This is still subject to change, depending on weather conditions as we progress with the works, and what potential damage has occurred to the towpath wall, which we won’t know until we start excavation. Thank you for your patience and support in resolving this challenge.

Did you ever see him using the throttle on the diesel? Several short bursts in rapid succession whilst manoeuvring, enough to make your drivetrain cry.