Richard T

I lived in Kegworth as a teenager and used to deliver papers to this property - the owners always tipped well at Christmas. In my opinion the bungalow was spoilt when the pitched roof were added. As a flat roofed property it had really nice crisp lines with a hint of art deco. Kegworth carnival and traction engine rally used to be held on the adjoining meadow. The house is well above the flood level.

Our boat has a BMC 1.8 in it with 11000hours on the clock and it doesn't use oil or smoke. The PRM gearbox is also good. You would need to add solar and 230v electrics but it looks a decent boat.

I should have said guidance rather than regulations. I think the installation looks dodgy

The stove is not compliant with any of the regulations, There appears to be no fire rated material at the rear of it and the flue is too close to the woodwork. Had another look at the photos it has ceramic tiles behind it but what are they stuck too?? A fire waiting to happen!! The boat is also London priced.

Talk to @cheshire~rose she and Dave had Delhi painted this year on the Shroppie and it is an excellent job

Great to see you and Jane back- you have been missed.

Are you aware that there are three standard types of stern for a narrowboat? Traditional used in this context means a boat with a small rear deck and the steerer stands just inside the back doors.Semi - traditional retains the shape of a trad boat but has a larger area to stand in, cruiser is an open stern deck with room for the steerer and several other people. There are many subtle variations on these types

Could your finances stretch to this? Its 5k dearer but looks in good condition especially on the outside. https://www.greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk/shop/brimstone/ Or this?https://www.greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk/shop/lyra/

My money is on the flue being partly blocked where it meets the baffle plate. I suggest the OP lets the stove out and removes the baffle and then checks that the flue is not partially blocked. After burning some dodgy fuel ours blocked at this point.

Martin, Welcome to the forum don't be afraid to ask questions. We all had to start boating somewhere and to ask what might appear to be the silliest questions. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum. You will soon learn whose advice is sound. Tony Brooks who is a regular poster is very well informed on all things mechanical. He has a web site http://www.tb-training.co.uk You might want to download some of the manuals from it. All the best Richard

Another thought - Is the air vent into the fuel tank become blocked? The use of fuel can then create a vacuum in the tank which will restrict fuel flow.

Another helpful person on rivetted boats is Paul Barber of Sheet Stores basin on the Erewash Canal. Good luck with project it looks interesting.

River Soar in Loughborough, Barrow on Soar, a familiar couple on the towpath, Mountsorrel and Sileby Mill 2nd January 2017

Some areas sort black bin waste for recyclable materials and any organic waste goes to anaerobic digesters. They have machines that slit bags - it then gets sorted but i don't think the manual sorters would be happy with slit bags of shit!! Come to think of it most sewage treatment plants put solids into AD and use the gas produced to make electricity. However all sorts of things get put in wheely bins many of which are not nice especially if the bin has not been emptied for a two or three weeks. Its a mind blowing boring low paid job standing at a conveyor sorting waste as it goes by. Human waste cannot be composted unless the system gets hot enough to kill pathogens which is why you should not put food waste in garden waste bins. Which brings me back to the point by bagging up excrement and putting it in general waste bins you are passing on the problem of disposing of it to other people. They are not geared up to process such material so unless you are prepared to fully compost your own waste dispose of it in a place that can process it properly. Human waste is hazardous!!

I can make enough shavings in a day to keep me in firelighters for a year!! I might try a few experiments using the bottom of a milk container and my bench vice. I can get a good pressure with it. I have thought about using dilute wallpaper paste as a binder but it usually contains a fungicide which I'm not too happy about burning, like wise dilute PVA glue.

I'm a fairly enthusiastic wood turner so generate reasonable quantities of wood shavings which I normally put in the garden waste skip at our local tip. However it crossed my mind that if made into briquettes they could be burned in our solid fuel stove. Has anyone any experience of making such briquettes? If so what do you use as a binder and how do you compress the shaving? I could buy a cheap press from Machine Mart which is designed to make briquettes out of paper. I have space to store them to allow for drying out. Any help gratefully received.

We were stuck in Gosty with a railway sleeper between the boat and the tunnel wall. It was 20or more years ago. We freed it by using the gang plank to force the sleeper down - we then retrieved it and disposed by putting in the back of a BW truck. It was a frightening experience especially for the kids. I did at one point think that I was going to have to walk out and call the emergency services.

We have our home location painted on our boat as it helps balance the sign written panel. Had we not had it we would have had scroll or similar in the same place. You do see some odd places on boats. Many place nems are not relevant because the boat has been sold or the owners have changed their mooring location.

We have a 1920s Fowler traction engine light. Unfortunately it no longer has the paraffin lamp inside. I have modified it to have an LED lamp. the bulls eye lens does diffuse the light well but as I don't want to blind oncoming boats it is angled to the right and upwards onto the roof of the tunnel. It is mounted on a CCTV bracket which has good adjustment - it is similar to this. We remove the light when not required as it is very collectable.

We have a river only licence for our boat - although our current mooring is off line so technically we don't need one. We then buy an Explorer licence for when we venture onto the canals. Typically south of Leicester, west of Shardlow or the Erewash. The other year we used our river licence on the Severn. As we hold a river licence we get a 50% discount on the Explorer one. We find this a very cost effective way of boating. We keep a log of when we use the Explorer licence.

I'm also offended by the heavily photo shopped image of Zouch. The removal of the pylon and HV cables along with manipulation of the bridge railings etc detracts from what is a pleasant view. Pylons are part of our landscape why remove them? Out of interest were the dogs really on the counter of the boat or have you added them from elsewhere?

Why not book a boat with more berths than you need and allocate the large people to a double on their own so they can sleep diagonally. As you are experienced a 70ft boat for only four or five would be fine.Suggest that for 4 counties you look at Black Prince - 2 bases to pick from, Andersen at Middlewich, Canal Cruising at Stone, Countrywide at Brewood, Anglo Welsh -two bases, Chas Hardern. There are probably other I've missed.

Welcome to the forum. To do the job properly its got to come out. You could take out all but the bulkhead to the galley and fit a cementitious board - Hardibacker or similar - to all areas and accept that the gally area is manky and might fall apart at sometime in the future!! It is possible that wet rot will develop unless you thoroughly dry any damp areas. Another thought is that you cut out the really bad areas and fit new ply. I would then overboard everything rather than attempt to sand off the old tile adhesive - any bumps left will grin through your PVC lining. You will need to fill and sand back where you fix the overboarding.

Or Sileby Mill which also has a good chandlery.

Craftmaster do small tins. Available at chandlers