Richard T

Talk to @RichardPowell who posts on here - he is the go to man for Listers

River Soar Location: Ratcliffe Lock (Lock 58) Starts At: Lock 58 - Ratcliffe Lock Ends At: Lock 58 - Ratcliffe Lock Saturday 9 April 2022 21:00 until further notice Type: Navigation Closure Reason: Structure failure Original message: Ratcliffe Lock is not currently operational due to a failure with the gate paddle on the top towpath side lock gate which is impacting the operation of the lock. Our local Operations Team will be on site with a work boat during the week to repair the fault. This notice will be updated accordingly.

This one in Newark comes complete with a 6 berth cabin cruiser. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122045369#/?channel=RES_BUY

@ange Have you seen these pictures of Iona before?

This is an excellent opportunity on the river Soar. The land does flood occasionally. Its off line so boats moored do not pay a licence fee. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121740902#/?channel=COM_BUY

Please remember that the principal use of the Soar north of the city centre is a flood relief channel. It means that a lot crap ends up in the river but once you clear Lime Kiln lock heading south it improves. There are now moorings at Memory Lane wharf which is above Lime Kiln lock and gives access to the Golden mile. Leicester is an interesting city and well worth stopping at. There is a nice mooring above Aylestone Meadow lock and again above Kings lock. Birstall has good moorings. Sileby Mill boatyard is good for services and has a good chandelry - it also provides a home for our boat. Note there are no CRT services between Barrow on Soar and Kilby Bridge. Last of all don't knock Leicester unless you've boated their in the last few months!!

Redhill Marina on the Soar/Trent junction have a large hoist. Rugby Boat Sales at Stowe Hill on the GU have a crane.

@RosieR For general boating help can I suggest that you read the excellent set of documents on Tony Brooks web site. Before he retired he used to run training courses for numpty people like me so that we could understand a bit more about our boats. As said before there are people on this forum who have good sound knowledge of boats and are willing to pass it on.

Sileby Mill black the weed hatch and put on new seals when they black boats. You could do the top at the boat yard and if the flange is a bit rusty wire brush and paint prior to fitting new seals

Just because it says last boat 14.45 don't turn up at 1440 and expect to go up or down. If there are already boats in the flight it will depend on which way they are going if the same way as you - the lockie maight let you in the flight. But if the opposite way you will be there until morning. The top of Watford is not a good place for over night mooring with the noise of the M1. At busy times the lockies let boats through in each direction in batches. You can easily find you are boat 7 or 8 in the queue and have a 3 or 4 hour wait.

This is the link to the planning application. The design has been done by Nottingham architects Franklin Ellis. https://publicaccess.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=R479YMLYJUQ00 I have memories of going round the building about 25years ago when it was empty - I was looking at a scheme to convert it to offices which never went ahead. The ceiling heights are quite low and the windows small - the floor to floor heights are between 2.8 and 3m so the ceiling heights will be around 2.35m . Given that the axis of the building is East-West apartments on the north side will be quite dark. I have attached a couple of floor plans and elevations for interest. GA_PLAN_PROPOSED_FIRST_FLOOR-1573092.PDF GA_PLAN_PROPOSED_GROUND_FLOOR-1573090.PDF PROPOSED_ELEVATION_-_NORTH-1573117.PDF PROPOSED_ELEVATION_-_SOUTH-1573118.PDF

Newark Castle, Nottingham Castle Beeston Castle. Loughborough Carillion And many many more.

Did anyone else watch the BBC programme last night Why Ships Crash? https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0013p1f/why-ships-crash It was primarily about how the Evergiven got stuck in the Suez canal last year. But for the size difference it explained very well problems that can be experienced by narrowboats in a silted up canal or in tunnels. I wouldn't have liked to try and keep a 300m long ship in a narrow channel with a gale force cross wind!!

@Mrs Tawny Owl Sue is the event taking place in May or June - the dates on the application form is contradictory!!

Hunslet still exists as a company - it is owned by the Graham Lee who established the Statfold Barn Railway. https://www.statfold.com/railway They may have records which might help.

Kilby Bridge is good for mooring overnight but we have no problem in stopping just south of Kings Lock there is piling at the end of the lock moorings. There is a very covenient Aldi on the offside at Aylestone -you can moor up to railings alonside a smal park/playarea. North of the city Thurmaston or Birstall are good. Its then a run into the city centre. The canal is a bit grotty in places but it is interesting.

Howard Williams is good if he's still doing work. Suggest you try and contact him via Sileby Mill Boatyard on the Soar. Otherwise James Terminutter Packer - find him on Facebook

The moorings are fine - our boat is moored at the stern of the fat boat. We never have any problems - the boat yard owner checks that all the boats are safe on a regular basis - he lives on site. It can be fun getting into our mooring if there is a bit of fresh in the river as there is a lot of strange currents in the pool, it is effectively a whirlpool with water entering at two points and it can be entertaining watching boaters who are new to the area winding in the pool!!

This is what happens when a boat goes over the weir at Sileby Mill on the Soar. Fortunately it was unoccupied at the time but it was someones home. The boat lost most of its superstructure and then submarined until it hit two moored boats. These have now been moved out of the way and the boat secured to the pontoons. The heap of debris is what remains of the superstructure. This happened a couple of days ago. The weir is unprotected and the boat must have broken free of its morrings in the flood conditions on the river.

28 December 2005, Trent Lock Junction and Derwentmouth Lock. It was a bit chilly!!

It may well have been french polished in which case seek the advice of a specialist. French polishing is a very specialised skill. Be very wary of sanding as the veneers could be very thin. The glue used to lay the veneers will almost certainly be animal based. My advice would be to do as little as possible and accept the flaws in the piece.

Peter le Marchant Trust in Loughborough have a poly-tunnel that they rent ou when they are not using it.

My experience is that the river needs to be at 1.3m or lower as measured on the level at Shardlow shown on Gaugemap https://www.gaugemap.co.uk/#!Map/Summary/121/123 for the river to be in amber at Derwent Mouth Lock. The gut below Cranfleet can be a problem if there is any fresh in the river - you need to be able to run at close to max revs for about 20minutes without overheating to counter it. There is a considerable pull from the hydro at Beeston if it is turned on. Keep well to the north bank to avoid it. If in doubt about moving stay put in a safe place.

Thought that someone with very deep pockets might fancy this at Kegworth on the river Soar. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/115547339#/?channel=RES_BUY The downside is that its under the flight path for East Midlands airport which has a lot of night flights. I would expect CRT to come to an arrangement over mooring for such a wonderful house.

Jon will be missed by many - his artwork adorns many boats. He did the signwriting on most of the boats painted at Sileby Mill. He also painted hot rods and similar cars. This is his work on our boat.