Richard T

Is the unknown boat Union Canal Carriers Kimberley? It looks right and they were using it as a self drive camper around then.

Try talking to marquee manufacturers or tent makers - for instance Bradford Cover and Tent see link link or Owen Brown at Castle Donington. Anchor Supplies are an ex army equipment supplier - they may be able to sell a large gun to add to your foc'sle.

Alan, What a treasure trove of images. The B&W makes them very atmospheric. Don't knock the old Zenits they were bomb proof. I've still got one but the shutter is no longer light tight. And then had good lenses and were half the price of a Practika.

Make your own!! A srip of hard wood with a rebate a little wider than the table top thickness eg 25mm top 30mm rebate, screw to wall. Then make a nice fancy bracket for the top with a timber turn buckle to retain the table. Less than an hours work plus varnishing time of about 3 days. Overall much better than a bit of nasty plastic.

We've always had good food at the Boot at Lapworth - its a gastro pub and you need to be there early if you haven't booked. Like wise just off the ring The Plough at Huddlesford. A really nice mooring is Kingsbury Water Park on the B&F - the bird life is fabulous. Not certain what the Dog and Doublet is like thes days. There is a choice of pubs at Newbold on Avon and don't forget The Greyhound at Sutton Stop or the likes of the Blue Lias at Stockton. Pubs seem to be very hit and miss these days for food - a change of landlord and all changes, there are plenty to pick from around the ring. There is a good indian at Polesworth and remember Polesworth and Atherstone have very good second hand bookshops. Most of the ring is Ok for mooring - just a bit on the B&F,possibly the centre of Nuneaton and around Bedworthto avoid. In our hire boat days starting at Braunston we would clear Calcutt 3 on the Sat evening and then make the top of Hatton on Sunday - a hard day. The rest is then easy with scope for picking up lost time on the north Oxford.

Its worth visiting the Goyt Valley walk in New Mills - this is one of the best Millenium projects. Derbyshire county council did a splendid job with the walkway down the river valley. Is the sweet factory still in the New Mills area? Have had meals at the Royal Oak at Fools nook (or as our kids called it Nools ...ook) south of Macclesfield by the swing bridge in the past which were very good. We found the best way to deal with kids on the Ashton was to engage with them and treat them as human beings - get them to help, explain how locks work etc.

Sheffield Insulation should be able to supply you see link Clicky They stock most types of insulation.

Alan it depends on where your starting point is!! To an octogenarian I'm a young one but to my grand children I'm an old fogie!! To give a clue I'm enjoying my 'heinz' year The age range was actually quite mixed from about 10 into 60s and maybe older.

Nice to meet everybody last night. Has anyone done a tally to see how many of us we were? It was great to see so many boats in the basin. How many boats were there? I counted at 10am this morning 6 in the basin, 7 on the Leicester section, how many by the Albion? Chaos this morning - fancy a load of boaters upsetting a fishing match!! They do seem to use the pegs through Loughbrorough a lot at this time of year maybe because water levels are fairly constant and parking is easy. Everytime I've been down to work on Dasque this year there has been a match, even when they had to break the ice to get clear water. Seriously we do have to live with the fishermen and next time (assuming we have another gathering) I'll let their secretary know so that they can avoid using the affected pegs. For their part I expect them to put signs up in future advising that there will be a match and asking boaters to moor elsewhere. There is an unofficial winding hole south of the town at the Peter le Marchant base - there are tyres on the off side wall to put your bow on.

When we worked through Stonebridge last summer a family with 8 children were watching - it wasn't long before father and the older kids were twirling windlasses and saved my muscles. The sanitary station was not brilliant and the rats around the rubbish point were nearly as big as cats. One had got stuck in a bin - it got a headache with a well aimed bottle. The landscaping in the area looks good but I suspect that it provides good cover for the rats. WJM was also on the Lee.

Being lazy and not wanting to read through the whole thread has any one spoken to the landlord of the Swan? They have a private room upstairs which is used for a folk club etc. It would be ideal for the evening and would stop the rest of the drinkers getting bored with canal talk. The landlord may open up this room for given the amount of ale we may drink during the evening. What time are we gathering?

The engine room and engine on our boat has got a build of greasy dirt around the bilges and on the swim. Whilst it is relatively easy to clean the swim and bilges using elbow grease and a degreaser, the engine and gearbox are much more difficult. Has anyone got ideas on the best way of doing this? I'm quite happy to hire the right gear for a day or two and have access to safe disposal for oily water. Is it safe to use a hot water pressure washer? or will the water get where it shouldn't and cause problems?

if you go further down the link that Alan has inserted you will see pictures of our BMC 1.8 in which the oil coolers for the engine and gerabox can clearly be seen. It is a Thorneycroft marinisation. You can also see where the take off for the calorifier is. Whilst doing all this work it is worth while putting in a remote oil filter - it makes oil chamging a lot easier and cleaner. The filter is not easy to get to being under the fuel filter and inverters and on top of the starter motor. We bought ours from Thorneycroft it didn't take long to install and has been well worth the money spent. If maintenance is easy it tends to get done!!

Don't forget Colin Ward on Moor Lane in Loughborough. Not easy to find so use Google. If asked nicely Colin will tell you the name of the beast you are about to eat!! We shop there for all our meat and the craic in the shop is worth the queue. Other good butchers are to be found in Penkridge, Alrewas, Berkhampstead.

See link for news on further funding for the Ashby.Ashby

Also try different styles of boat. Some like Middlewich or Union Canal Carriers have cruisers semi trads and trads for hire. You can usually look at other boats when starting or finishing your hire. Go and have a look at brokers like Whilton Marine or Harral you can get a feel for styles of boats that way.

Very sure - I could publish the next photo in the sequence which is of the delightful lock cottage. The paddle gear is stiff but workable. Just out of interest are you into long distance canoe racing? If so we passed you several times on the same cruise on the Lee and Stort. Ours is a non descript blue boat called Dasque which has now been repainted.

We used the working ones on the Hanwell flight last year. Couple of pictures for interest.

John Boddy at Boroughbridge for solid timber. Is there a James Latham branch in the area? as they do all the sheet materials including resin impregnated for locker tops etc.

Why not a band saw - easy to use and safe unlike some practices mentioned above with circular saws. You then clean up using a router, plane or if curved spokeshave or even -if you have access to one - a drum sander. But whatever you do don't use a table saw where there is any chance of the back of the blade catching on the timber other wise things can get very messy and the queues at A&E are not good places to spend time! Finally an oak floor will expand and contract and needs an expansion gap which can be filled with cork which is easily obtained from DIY shops.

Roger - very interesting photos of a bit of not often seen Leicester. My real wish for the Soar is for the citizens of said city and surrounding areas to stop using the river as a tip. IT makes the section below Belgrave look very attractive with thousands of plastic bags and bottles caught in the waterside vegitation!! It is most off putting and eventually the rubbish makes its way downstream until the Loughborough residents add to it and so on. I don't kow what the answer is unless the local IWA organise an annual clean up each spring to remove the worst of it. I would volunteer to help if organised and might even be able to provide a small dinghy.

Sorry I only heard a few minutes of the commentary I was on my way home from my local recycling centre or in common parlance 'tip'. Radio 5 might provide the answer if asked.

I have memories - maybe a bit vague - of Betelgeuse being used as a fully converted live aboard at Macclesfield Marina about 1994. I think the mechanic/engineer at the marina lived on her. Ed Mortimer or Steve Jackson (Camel) would have more information. At the time Steve had just bought Camel and taken her to Macclesfield prior to conversion. Ed was operating Auriga as a hire boat - we were her first hirers and did a lot of work on her for him. (See AM Models web site for a photo of Auriga in Macclesfield Marina livery.

Keep me in the loop as you've probably gathered Im Lufbra born and bred so spend a lot of time championing the delights of the river Sewer. Actually is not as dirty as it used to be so perhaps it can now be called by its proper name.

To take this thread a little further - how many other football league grounds is it possible to travel to by canal boat? ie within about a kilometre of the ditch or river! Easy ones for me are Nots County, and Forest where misbehaving visitor supporters get an early bath! Leicester City and switching codes the one and only Tigers. Stoke City, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Walsall, Wolves, the Baggies. How many more are there?