King Learie

Some of my earliest memories was being taken to see the Cutty Sark, I was really into sailing ships as a nipper and I remember the reek of tar that blacked the hull. I don't remember going on board which I think was due to the entrance price and parents of modest means but they did make up for it with the Woolwich Ferry and the tunnel and observatary on the hill. TV News this morning showed the yard at Chatham full of masts, spars, rigging etc, awaiting offsite restoration, the cast iron hull is a little warped but must be repairable even for just cosmetic purposes. Now while the current restoration was going on they were faced with a massive 6.5 million shortfall after recieving 15 m from the lottery. What they have now is a far greater restoration project but this must be balanced up against the many millions of free advertising that this fire has brought. They know this, and are busy capitalising on the advantage with a new fundraising website for all those millions of people who had never heard of the Cutty Sark before (except off a whiskey bottle!) so as long as they don't bollocks up this heaven sent opportunity I think the 'ol' girl' will grace her dock again some years in the future. Now the police are investigating the matter as arson.....mmmmm? King Learie - Avast thar me hearties!

Hi Tomsk With Choo choos you can only really argue about the livery for authenticity and the more recent the built the less options you have. As for working narrow boats the whole thing is far more complicated especially if you are sharing the responsibility and the decisions about how to go about restoring, fitting out and generally doing something useful with it. If you want a lot of personal dynamics, stress and some fun then go ahead but it will be a lot more expensive that it was 35 years ago. I could write a lomg essay on this subject but can't be arsed at the moment - ask Hairy Neil I'm sure he will have something to say on the subject due to his own personal experiences. It's an area of existance that attracts quite a high proportion of obsessives and their obsessions all differ slightly causing much debate and falling out. King Learie

Considering the furlore over Holly I'm surprise that this hasn't caused more 'ripples' on this site. I strongly suggest that you keep up the pressure on the police using every means to do that and be now very public in all your announcements. They won't be able to stonewall you over this forever and I believe compensation is due just simply for the gross inconvenience they've caused. The very best of luck King Learie PS Remember all that dredging plant stolen from Land and Water in Leicester over last Christmas? The police just could'nt be bothered to look for it despite it being worth a quarter of a million. The guy from L&W sounded just as pi55ed off as you two....

Hi Adam With no real experience to speak of in regards to boats but have followed the development of wind generators and solar cell since the 70's I would go for both to compliment the engine and generator as a suppler of electrical energy. In both cases they need to be mobile so that you can remove them for safe keeping. Carlt has recently has had his SC's stolen. Noise and vibration from the windmill should not be a problem if it is set up correctly and anyway it's a million times better for the planet and your ears than a generator. The day will come soon when these renewable energy sources are as common as satellite dishes and good thing too . King Learie

Well I think that puts that myth of a 'narrowboat to Dunkirk', to rest, althought the mention of a photo that showed what looked like looked like a grounded narrowboat on that harrowing beach is a tantilising clue.... Can this pic be posted up so that we can put it to our collective assessment? King Learie

Er.... buy the expensive tyres that don't allow punctures - a good bike shop will supply these, as after years of sporadic reliabilty and lots of inconvenient punctures from riding on the towpath I learnt from my friend and we haven't had any problems. King Learie

Well, that story doesn't seem so improbable after all and as it has been said on this topic it was the quickest way to travel in the 1800’s. Who were the historic version of G4 Security ?– small owners- ready to take on whatever was on offer? – ‘blindfolded prisoners in chains to London, just need a bucket, water and simple food for 5-6 days’. You could get 25 -30 humans in a hold and they wouldn’t weigh that much and the practice of transporting cattle by narrow boat on this canal had also been tried out – along with fast passenger boats between cities with teams of horses on other canals. The introduction of railways would have rendered all of this redundant very quickly and as the railways were new, brash and exciting, so stuff like this topic would have been very quickly forgotten…. Australia was a big place and needed colonising and consumed a large amount of souls before it became a stable economic environment producing wealth for the British Empire. Might not have been regular work for boaters/companies but not much recorded traffic of this nature survives and, of course, no photographs either….. But I would have thought that something about this matter must have survived the 180 years since…. Sitting blindfolded, chained up for days, in an old damp wooden boat under tar coated cloths would have certainly acclimatised them to the horrors of an old leaky warship, on a one way trip, battling the seas and climate all the way to the Antipodes. Just imagine it! - Poor folk King Learie

This is story related by a boater sharing a lock with us some years back. While waiting for the lock to empty he told me about a narrowboat that had crossed the channel in 1940. This was with all the other small river craft from the Thames to help with the evacuation of the Expeditionary Forces trapped on the beaches of France by the advancing Nazis. Does anyone know more or is this one of those stories that has become fact due to someone confusing the description of a vessel with another? Thames barges did take part and some survived and of course many people called narrowboats BARGES and boatmen BARGEES (and still do!) The chap told me the name of this boat but during the four years since hearing the tale new information has pushed the old out! But it was something grand sounding like 'Belvadeer'. King Learie

I heard a strange story yesterday about a narrowboat that took prisoners from Leicester (and possibly elsewhere along the route) and took them down to London where they were put onto ships bound for Australia. The specifics of the tale was that a local magistate held court in a old coaching inn called the Talbot in Belgrave, near Leicester and those found guilty were hooded and led through a tunnel to the adjacent navigation and put on a boat They were kept hooded until they entered the Bay of Biscay! The chap who told this tale to my friend appeared quite sure of his facts although I know the history of the area quite well and have never heard mention of this barbaric treatment of folk anywhere. Now I do remember that soldiers were moved by canal from London to Liverpool on their way to Ireland but prisoners? King Learie

No sightings here in Leicester or by boaters passing through - who knew nothing of the issue - they do now! King Learie

Hi all Nothing seen here in Leicester as yet and BW, the Council Rangers, the Kings Lock Tea Rooms, and myself have been keeping our eyes peeled (along with others) for Holly (preferribly with the red berries on) But nothing yet. We've talked to passing boaters to alert them but most are already alerted so the guy, if he is heading this way, will have to travel quietly by night to miss being spotted. Stiil it gives a certain frisson to walking the dog and riding the bike each day! If he's mad - its sad. If he's a thief - it's bad. If he's having a laugh - he'll pay! Still, what fun- eh? - The Great Escape! etc. Make a good book subject - 'Narrow Boat to Leicester Nick'! I'd buy it..... King Learie

As a follow-on to my post yesterday, here are a couple of pix of the grand opening of the Tea Rooms at Aylestone's Kings Lock in Leicester. Tony and Julie had worked 20 hour days leading up to the Good Friday and raised a good £700 for the chosen charity but they made a big loss on the day. But as lots of new people discovered this hidden treasure of tranquility and good nosh and of course, with any growing venture, the pay-back will be in increased numbers of customers in the months to come. Boaters generally don't stop as they are DESPERATE to get through this 'renowned' city of bandits before they get stuffed - the trouble is, they've stuffed themselves with old rumours so thus miss out on an interesting city with lots to offer!! Sad.... King Learie PS I agree with Carlt's sentiments wholeheartedly on the current 'Bandits' topic.

After a period of bitter north easterly winds it's a relief to be able to work outside without layers of clothes and cold hands! I spent Good Friday midday at Kings Lock Tea Rooms at Aylestone, Leicester. The tea rooms celebrated the start of it's forth season with a grand fundraising do for the local children's hospice and the place was heaving in the sunshine. The local BBC radio broadcast the event live from the garden where wave after wave of punters shelled out their fiver for a cream scone and a pot of tea to accompaniment of local musicians. I counted 4 Mad Hatters and three Alices but the host Tony was dressed as a furry bee for some reason. The long winter was all the longer for the place being shut - for me it was like your favourite local being closed for refurbishment so I'll look forward to stealing away for a few more visits soon. King Learie

Hi all Yes, things here down south on the Soar aren't to good either but that is mostly due to those floods we experienced a month ago which produced an amazing amount of drift wood, human produced rubbish and other matter that has defied the effort of the small team of the local authority, BW and their contractors to quickly clear up. Many trees were blown into the cut and these WERE quickly cleared only for the local dim wits to throw the diced up logs into the water for an extremely low level thrill which have choked some of the city's lock gates. But this is too in hand and passage through our fair city of Leicester is no problem according to the many boaters passing through on Good Friday. Much of this mixed debris has ended up in heaps - nay - islands in the side/back waters of the Soar which aren't and haven't been navigatable for many years. As for the Floating Pennywort weed, all those responsible for the navigation recognise its potential for serious disruption and have, after three years of bureaucratic prevarication, mounted a campaign to eradicating this pernicious invader from the local waterways over the next five years. Quite honestly you couldn’t ask for more, (well you could, but you would wasting your breath!) King Learie