Richard T

The Soar has now started to go down-but as far as I can guage from levels will not yet be open. I pass over Cotes bridge which is one of the un-navigable sections on my way to work and judge by the levels there if it will be open or not. I was at Thurmaston last night and levels were still high there but falling. trent still high.

For those members interested, checked the Soar again this morning. It is still very high and several days from reopening. The Trent also looks very high.

As I predicted the Soar has risen again overnight, but with a couple of dry days will soon drop. The Trent looks fairly high but there are other things to concentrate on when crossing Clifton bridge so have not got a fix on whats happening to it!!! The thread 'stuck at Shardlow' has the phone no for Sawley in it.

The problem will not be with The Soar but the Trent. The Soar was still rising tonight as I passed on my way home from work. Will look on my way in tomorrow morning and post again but I think it will be still rising. The Soar goes down quite quickly as it has a relatively small catchment area so water runs off quickly. On the other hand the Trent has a large catchment and can take several days to rise following rain on the west peak district or Cannock Chase, equally it takes time to go down. Speak to the lockie at Sawley for his predictions on when it will open again. You can of course come down the Soar when it opens and moor outside The Albion in Loughborough and get wet on the inside whilst waiting for the Trent to open.

When hiring from Middlewich NBs - yes we took Holly out several times - we used to use the strect between bridges 165 and 164 as a last night mooring. Its sheltered from road noise. Remember to be careful with paddles at Wheelock, boats can become uncontrollable by engine alone becuse of the water flow patterns.

If you want to be eco friendly with a barrier mat Interface manufacture tiles made from old car tyres. Its called Tirex and comes in 300mm square tiles but its not cheap and only comes in dark grey. It can be hosed down so the dog muck is not an issue! Seriously on our boat we have used a commercial non slip vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom( they were offcuts from a flooring contractor friend). It is easy to lay and in small areas does not need fixing down except at thresholds but you must remember to lay it flat for sometime before use as it shrinks when unrolled. I found it useful to make a paper /card template for cutting wqhich can then be done on the bank. I have memories of doing this on the grass at Cromwell lock whilst waiting for the tide.

The Soar generally doesn't present draught problems until you get over 3ft. There has been a barge moored below Zouch lock because the owner can't get further upstream but he draws 3ft 6in and the river has been low. There is a bit of silt build up on the entrance to some lock cuts. There might also be a problem at Kegworth deep lock where in order to stop the gate paddles swamping boats horizonatl timbers are fixed above the cill

Nice to know where Auriga is. Just been boating round Birmingham and Ocker Hill was a bit we missed on account of Walsall locks being U/S. At the time we were involved with her Ed Mortimer was sort of hiring her from Macclesfield Marina> Steve Jackson was also involved - Steve now runs the converted josher Camel, which takes me full circle as this was the first canal boat I ever went on when she was the length boat at Loughborough yard when BW had one there. Boating round the bits of Birmingham was fun - are the natives always that unfriendly in Walsall (one broken window)!! But surprised by how nice the Tame valley and the bits round Brownhills and Aldridge are. Strangley held up by queues at Rushall locks - how often does that happen?

Many years ago was involved with little Woolwich boat Auriga and went through most of the locks between the old and new main lines. Brades staircase is a little short but with all fenders off we got through. However we came to grief at Camp Hill top lock where the ehtrance /exit at the upper level has cast iron protection with a width of only 7ft 1inch. Auriga has speread a bit so we became firmly wedged on leaving the lock going up hill. It took BW with a tirfor winch to get us out, by means of being pulled back into the lock and then going out as fast as possible whilst rocking the boat to find the narrow bit on the hull!! Typically it was our last narrow lock on a trip from Macclesfield to Brauston.

Boated from Birstall to Loughborough (NB Dasque) yesterday. As the rain was very heavy didn't really take a lot of notice of details of other boats on the move but there were several cruisers about. Peter Le Marchant had one of their boats on a run to Sileby, it might be worth talking to their skipper.

A good place to look for registration info is Jim Sheads web site (www.jim-shead.co.uk). Its not quite upto date but lists most BW and EA registered boats with some info about them and includes an explanation of the registration numbers and dates. Eg 72834 first registered 1987. If you can find its name and enter this plus narrowboat it gives a 'googlewhack' for good measure. On this subject I have an anorak friend who not content with having seen most railway locos in Europe is starting to log all BW registered craft and where he has seen them!! Have fun RichardT

Read some of the comments of earlier today and feel I have to defend Middlewich Narrowboats. For many years we were hirers and kept going back to Midllewich, in 20+years of hiring from them we never had cause to call out an engineer!! Our eldest daughter spent her honeymoon on Holly. It is concerning that the boat has disappeared but there are many places around the system to hide a boat, all everybody can be is vigilant and keep a look out for her. We are by the way now boat owners