magpie patrick

D'ya think the blokes on the back were carefully selected by a modelling agency to look like "the kind of fellas that would by a boat"?

The lock looks relatively central in the canal so if the lift were alongside was the lift located in full expectation of being replaced? The lock is also some distance from the rest of the flight and approximately twice as deep as all the others, I assume these two facts are related? I would assume that the economics of lifts means the bigger the lift the better, whereas with water supply issues this isn't the case for locks?

I used to drive a Citroen Czero on a fairly regular basis, it's claimed range was about 80-90 miles and certainly it would do Bristol and back without me worrying about it (circa 65 miles round trip) assuming of course the previous user had left it plugged in. I could charge it in Bristol so wasn't too worried but there were trips I wouldn't book it for - Taunton and back was at the limit of the range and I didn't dare risk it as there were no charging points there so if the previous user had mucked it up I couldn't do it. Aside from the cost, a far bigger barrier for me (And for many others) is I don't have an allocated parking space where I can install a charger. I'm currently driving a standard automatic (Ford Fusion) although I also own a Rover 214 manual gear box and drive a Toyota Yaris hybrid on a regular basis. I'm getting to rather like automatics so the next car might be a hybrid, as they are effectively automatic. That's a few years off though. If both the Ford and the Rover were gone tomorrow it would be down the local garage to see what they'd got for less than £1,000...

Let's get back to the original question - no it doesn't. Variable speed limits are to be varied in accordance with traffic conditions, not on any other criteria or whim. The logic (which has been proven to work) is that when the motorway is approaching capacity then reducing the speed limit reduces variance in speed, reduces the need to change lane, and keeps traffic moving, thus squeezing the last bit out of the capacity of the motorway - the paradox that going slower increases capacity. The only environmental logic is a byproduct of the above, as congestion, standing or crawling traffic, is much worse for air quality than free flow traffic. In theory slowing you down so you don't join a queue so quickly would have a beneficial effect*, but the main reason these limits slow you down on the approach to a queue is to reduce the risk of you colliding with it. *There are traffic lights on the edge of Bath that delay you out of town in an attempt to cut queues in town, as the queues in town would contribute to poor urban are quality. Urban air quality is not just a function of emissions, buildings and landform may mean emissions get trapped in one location but not in another. You also had an unusual situation in which successive gantry signs read 60, 50 then 60 again. Because there is an element of automation there is no guarantee the signs won't do this but it isn't common. Finally, those tolerances don't exist in law, if you are exceeding the spped limit by a measurable amount they can prosecute, the tolerances allow for driver error etc.

It's unreasonably because the registered owner of the car is black - no it wouldn't be recorded on the form, but the police are making an assumption that the owner of such a car can't be black/coloured/whatever the latest term is.

Mike was on a roll, now he's in a pickle An awkward plaice to be, when the chips are down

Just to add - until the Nene/Ouse thing guillotine gates often seem to have had paddles - Shrewsbury Canal for example. I've not seen guillotine gates lean though, like these do. Question really then is why do the gates lean? Why do they lean in opposite directions, and what are the holes for if not for paddles?

I think frequency of use plus head of water will influence whether guillotine gates get stuff stuck on the cill, if the gate is used frequently and the head large it is quite unlikely. Also the Nene gates are pushed down by the mechanism whereas the ones at Kings Norton drop under their own weight (which is probably rather less anyway) meaning the King's Norton ones will more readily get stuck. However the holes in the photos don't really work as ground paddles unless there was once another end to them, now blocked, which is why I'm asking. If they were obviously ground paddle culverts that would be the end of the story.

A brief stop at King's Norton today, by road, afforded ten minutes examining the now level lock. I've been through it a few times, but not really taken in the detail. It is mostly under a bridge, which itself seems to mark a change in road name from Lifford Lane to Broad Meadow Lane. I noticed the guillotine gates lean backwards slightly, by design. The bridge masks the fact the lean in opposite directions. Both lean into the lock. I would imagine a guillotine gate might make a slightly more effective seal if leaning backwards a little, as if the head of water were pushing it over. Does this feature suggest they expected the head to be in either direction? I also noticed what looked like ground paddle culvert entrances. One at the Birmingham end inside the lock on the towpath side, and two at the Stratford end, one inside the lock and one outside, but on opposite sides so clearly not two ends of the same culvert - and anyway, why would a ground paddle culvert show above the water? Is much known about the construction of this lock? A couple of pictures below

I once saw a carpenter throw a long, pointed tool into another long pointed tool… Awl in awl, it was a cool experience

That was something else - where do we put the band and the caller?

Surely only if we indulge whilst on the tug deck? Otherwise they really shouldn't be peaking through the portholes seeing us scottiche and chasse That would get the gongoozlers excited....

And just to add - what dance? Tango, Waltz, Ciroc? traditional English Folk? I quite fancy a ceilidh on a narrow boat...

I am really not convinced a hammock would work as a sofa, they're beds, there is an art to lying in them without them spitting you out onto the floor, an art that doesn't include sitting on them with legs dangling over the edge. Beanbags...

The thread is on "upsetting incidents" - so taking that theme I'd suggest any protocol (note, protocol, not "rules") relates to these and these alone. At a personal level I found the immediate reference to the Manchester pusher tiresome rather than offensive, just "why?", if you've nothing to say then say nothing When we are commenting on a death on the waterways, a place many of us regard as home whether or not we live afloat it may pay to be sensitive - "Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind" - this protocol need not be applied to the merits of composting toilets, the ascent of Wigan locks, or whether the prince of Elbonia should be given an audience with Rod Stewart. I recall about ten years ago a drowning was reported on here and it turned out the unfortunate sole was on his way home from visiting a forum members - jokes would have been very unfortunate, but it had a wider impact as well, as one other member (me) was dealing with the aftermath of a similar incident at the time. It's not just those directly affected, but those who have "been there" in other tragedies. Death affects a lot of people in different ways, and it pays to be a little bit circumspect before cracking jokes about it on what is a public forum.