Richard T

Where abouts in the country are you? When we know we may be able to come up with some suggestions for help.

try Howard Williams based at Sileby on the Soar. If you are on Facebook you can find him as ecofuelboat.

The cottage by the top lock at Atherstone http://markwebsterandco.co.uk/property/coleshill-road-atherstone-26/

The towpath by the moorings is actually quite muddy so due for an upgrade.

Having looked at the listing and putting my building conservation hat on that house wants serious amounts of money spending on it to remove its horrors!! For example I would guess that the exterior is painted with a modern paint - this will need removing back to bare stone/brick, that in turn will want repointing using lime mortar before repainting with lime wash. Inside the black beams want all the paint removing, the walls taken back to bare plaster, any gypsum based plaster replaced with lime and then repainted and so on. I would guesstimate somewhere in the order of £200k.

There is generally space. A good time to arrive is late morning as many of the boats who have stopped overnight have left so there should be gaps. We normally stop at the first space we find and then walk on to see if there are better ones nearer to the basin. We normally wind as we leave. There are water taps all the way along the moorings. Pump out, elsan, toilets and rubbish are just inside the basin on the offside.

Anglo-Welsh at Trevor went out of their way to help us when we had a problem last summer.

I would use treated softwood decking board or similar.

Try this from Hafele UK. They are the biggest suppliers of furniture fittings in the UK. https://www.hafele.co.uk/en/product/cam-lock-for-square-profile-key-with-straight-cam-and-nut-attachment/P-00871084/?PageSize=48#SearchParameter=&Category=Iw4KAOsFo2cAAAF.v83iJvmA&@P.FF.followSearch=9976&PageNumber=2&OriginalPageSize=12&PageSize=48&Position=80&OrigPos=13424&ProductListSize=328 You can also buy a cranked cam to fit the lock

If you can get it to the river Soar in Leicestershire Sileby Mill Boatyard would be able to do it but be aware a new engine is going to cost you several thousand pounds. Its not just the engine but alterations to the engine beds, electrics control paneletc Try talking to Richard Powell @rlwp who posts on this forum about your old one - you may be pleasantly surprised about what could be do to sort out your existing one.

Enjoy your return toKiwiland. It was a pleasure to have met you on several occasions like Matty and Kathys wedding. Heres a picture to remind us of that day.

Archimedes when Al & Trish Akehurst had it. Here paired with UCCs Great Britain going down Braunston locks. Al's comment was that GB would make a good work boat with the top cut off!

We are booked to go into Liverpool later in the year and with a free hook up being there we thought we would get a battery charger to keep the 12v domestic bank charged so that we don't have to run the engine. We have 3x110ah FLA batteries with a solar panel which will help charging. I'm reluctant to pay the £190 ish pounds for the Victron Blue Smart 30amp for just a few days use. Has any one any thoughts on a cheaper one?

Talk to Richard Powell he is an excellent engineer he posts on here @RLWP and trades as https://www.mes-midlands.co.uk/ He is based in Kenilworth so not that far from you. He specializes in old engines and gear boxes.

Where abouts are you. The man for old Listers is Richard Powell who posts on here. This is his website https://www.mes-midlands.co.uk/ He is based at Kenilworth

If you read to the end of the article it states that the trolleys etcwere removed from the canal by Tescos in Kidderminster. PersonallyI would have taken them back and put them in the trolly park in such positions that customers would have had to move them to get at clean ones to shop with. Thats what Idid with an Aldi one rescued from the cut at Wednesfield last year.

Their quoted price for a 57ft boat seems very low compared to other builders at under £90k.

For the last few years I have organised a Loughborough Banter at Christmas but decided not to do so this one. Mainly because i expected numbers to be low - they have declined recently. Some old hands do not post very often. I'm open to someone else organising one but it would need to fit in with our cruising plans.

How about this in Shepperton? https://www.themodernhouse.com/sales-list/towpath/

Worth stopping at the Pig Place on the Oxford for their excellent bacon and sausages. Don't be tempted to moor overnight there as they charge. On the upper Thames stop at Kelmscott for the Manor House. It was the summer home of William Morris. It has recently been renovated and is delightful. It does have restricted opening - from memory Thursday, Friday & Saturday https://www.historichouses.org/house/kelmscott-manor/visit/ There is mooring on the river for it -there is about 100ft of piled bank with a concrete cap but no rings. There is also a meadow which has mooring potential. Lechlade is well worth a visit - beware of cattle in the riverside meadow don't leave anything on your roof that they can pull off. Our lift ring was abducted by them. We were not charged for mooring there.

A few years ago we were going through Leamington and in the front cockpit of a boat coming the other was a rathet shapely bum fully exposed hanging over the gunwhale, the lady in question was having a pee directly into the canal. She didn't stop when she saw us approaching!

Agree with BEngo - Johnno is the man for all things Sabb. It would be worth getting the engine serviced by him. You would have to pay travelling time for him to come to the boat but it could save you a lot of money and angst!!

Vermuelens deli is exceptional. They have one of the best pork pies on the system in our eyes only bettered by the butcher in Nantwich!! They also have good bread which I think may be supplied by Chatwins of nantwich. Just go and spend some money on nice things there and eat in. Although we didn't try it we were reccomended to buy waffles from the shop across the road from Vermuelens.

I voted very scenic if it had a boat in regardless of how bad the photo was and not at all scenic if it didn't.

Look on Facebook at Kev Maslins page https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=photography by kev maslin