Richard T

Matty40s will confirm that there are safe moorings in Sileby lock. In good conditions there are safe moorings above and below Sileby lock - it is not a good place to be when the river rises. Sileby Mill boatyard is good for diesel and has a well stocked chandlery. Most of the time the Soar is fine however when going anti-clockwise beware of Barrow bridge if there is any fresh in the river. It is an awkward turn from the lock cut into the river and the bridge has very low sprung arches. If in doubt go and look and decide your course of action first. Loughborough is good for shopping it has an excellent market on Thursdays and Saturdays. There is an M&S food, Tesco, Sainsburys, Aldi and from 28th Feb Lidl within walking distance of the canal. Do not rely on the Loughborough services being operable - they have been locked following vandalism for some months. The best ones to use are at Barrow the next ones heading south are at Kilby Bridge. Heading North there are some at Trent Lock. We have done the ring in both directions and really enjoy it.

R&D built many good shells.They were based at Ollerton Notts. The company continues to operate as X R&D.

The Leicester Outdoor Pursuit Centre on the river Soar continue to pick litter on a regular basis. I spent yesterday afternoon on the iver with about 12 other volunteers. Around 25bags of litter were collected. This brings the total collected since the picks started to over 2000bags. Further picks are to be held as follows:- Saturday 23rd February 2019, 1:30pm to 4:30pm Sunday 24th March 2019, 12:30pm to 3:30pm Saturday 13th April 2019, 1:30pm to 4:30pm Wednesday 22nd May 2019, 6:00pm to 8:00pm Sunday 16th June 2019, 12:30pm to 3:30pm More information can be found here https://www.lopc.co.uk/about/get-involved/river-clean-team/

I would go down the Shroppie and onto the Staffs and Worcester as far as Stourport and return. There will be time for a trip on the steam hauled Severn Valley railway from Kidderminster. If you like interesting old houses Wightwick Manor is delightful and well worth stopping to visit, there are also the cave dwellings at Kinver. And there should be time for a trip down the Severn to Worcester which is a city well worth visiting. The important thing is to enjoy your holiday regardless of the weather.

I like Foxton - . Once you are in the flight they are very easy to work and the view from gthe top is great. Otherwise I always enjoy the Wolverhampton 21.

Offer it to your tenants - they may make a good offer for it to preserve their mooring.

David, Looking at the old 25inch map there appears to be three buildings by the bottom lock One is quite big and the other by the fence lines could well be a pair of semi-detached cottages. You can see them by following this link https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=19&lat=53.1298&lon=-2.3682&layers=168&right=BingHyb This web site is really useful for looking at historic data. All the best Richard

Sielby Mill on the Soar is very relaxed with good facilities. OK ithe Soar does flood regularly but boats are looked after when it happens. There is a good train service from the village and its near to the M1, M42 and M69.

I think it means that they cannot leave the lock full as the leak is draining it.

Just received this notice - its seems serious and may well leave the lock inoperable for a considerable time Notice Alert River Severn Navigation Starts At: Lock 2 Gloucester Lock Ends At: Lock 2 Gloucester Lock Tuesday 15 January 2019 10:00 until further notice Type: Navigation Closure Reason: Structure failure Original message: Please be advised that Gloucester Lock is currently closed until further notice for customer safety. A severe leak under the lock has made control over the water levels in the lock impossible, putting an excessive load on the top gates and making passage unsafe. We will keep you informed of any updates as they occur. Please take this closure into account when planning your journey. For further information or advice, please contact the Gloucester Dock Office on 01452 318012 or at [email protected]

Ellis boilers arenow very old. Some spares are available from Foxton Boat Services. If you buy the boat I can let you have a copy of the manual for the boiler. I doubt if you will actually use it with a solid fuel stove in a 45ft boat - we rarely light ours in a 62ft boat.

Rather than twist the cable ends together use a choc block connector if you have one on board. This will give a positive connection.

Our Morso 1416 is fixed to a hearth made of two layers of 12mm cementitious board which has the been tiled. It has the necessary projections and has a steel lip. Morso give a temperature for the underside of the stove which the board we used is fine for. To the rear and sides we used 25mm calcium silicate board ceramic tiled on a timber frame with air gap as reccommended in the guide. After 6 years we have had no problems and expect none.

It basically means having no front cockpit. You can see a narrowboat in this style on this web page - they may also do a wide beam in the same style.https://www.nottinghamboatco.com/range/

We lined our stern locker with play and fixed coat hooks on one side and a rack with holes in it on the other. The hooks are used for those useful lengths of rope etc, the rack for mooring pins, lump hammer and nappy pins. We have ropes permanently spliced on the our nappy pins - we are less likely to leave them behind if we moor using them. We also use chains for mooring to piling. The bottom of the locker is where the Marine 16 and assorted cans of paint lives.