dmr

This is a problem for us too, Gillie is an early evening drinker and likes a beer at about 6, whilst I prefer to start later and stay till shutting time. We have found a compromise that suits both of us but it tends to be expensive and unhealthy. ............Dave

We have a cunning plan, tonight we start drinking at 6:30 and so can leave well before they need to chuck us out. .............Dave

We did try to explain the concept of the "Lock in" but its a posh pub with big windows and no curtains so it was a bit of a non starter. ............Dave

So it looks like a whole lot of drinking history has got lost, I reckon its all down to Mrs Thatcher. Last orders at the bar Time Gentlemen please and then 20 mins to drink up. But did have a spectacular drink the day that Thatcher died, I still blame her for the hangover. ...........Dave

I reckon they looked at two old blokes drinking too much beer and reckoned they were doing us a good turn by sending us home. Maybe we should have started drinking earlier? The barmaid going to bed with a big glass of wine was quite encouraging, it might be posh and expensive in Hungerford but at least they know how to drink. ...............Dave

Northwich has a small on-line marina on the river, Google should find it. Usually full and likely to have a waiting list. This is the only proper marina. Just upstream is the old Yarwoods basin, usually rammed full of working boats but its worth asking, again google will find it. A little way above Hunts lock is an old sprawling boatyard full of interesting stuff and they have a few on-line a "basin" moorings. Might be up for housing development soon. Its called Jalsea and google will find it. The Winsford Flash marina is council run and is for 48hour visitors only. A few boats moored in the flash but I don't know the details. A few moorings down at Acton bridge run by a boat club. .............Dave

Lots of hirers assume they will do 4mph so your 3mph estimate was not too bad. I reckon on 2.5 mph most of the time but we are big and deep. The K&A from Bradford to Bath is very slow, maybe 1.5mph much of the way, and getting stuck behind a widebeam is a real possibility. Its not a good canal for widebeams but there are a lot down there. I think the hire companies should take some of the blame as you may well have enjoyed it a lot more if you had been given more realistic expectations. Arriving in Bath and finding nowhere to moor is also always a realistic possibility. I also wish some of the locals would keep their boats a bit smarter with a bit less roof clutter, but then last week we shared a few locks with a boat with spectacular clutter and it was an enjoyable day with a pleasant and competent boater, and some of the roof clutter was actually quite interesting, in fact many of the Western Enders are creative and entertaining people and a canal boat holiday should be a chance to get away from the drabness of 9 to 5 life.. .............Dave

As the truly spectacular Western End did not satisfy, then maybe the op can tell us what sort of canal he would like to do? Lots of locks/no locks/pretty countryside or industrial/canal archeology, and the forum may have a few suggestions. If a bit of driving is ok then the Rochdale from Sowerby Bridge to the summit has some of the feel of the K&A but with far fewer moored boats, though we did meet a hirer up there last year who said their holiday was spoiled by the untidy moored boats. I always find the Oxford a little tame compared with K&A. The T&M and the Caldon are both rather good. ............Dave

I did ! As a roving trader we are probably allowed to continue to use red, and as we almost always have stuff on display we are always potentially trading. However if we have a day when we have no intention of trading, maybe due to very bad weather, then we are required to ditch our entire tank of red and fill up with white at a moments notice, its just daft, I was a marginal Bexiteer, but stuff like this makes me 100% pro Brexit. ...............Dave

Surely that is what the current consultation is all about ?

Enforcement on the K&A is pretty strict and as far as I am aware almost all of the boats are moving at least every 14 days. There are quite a few long term moorings down that way but otherwise I am not sure how you can "clearly" see that most have not moved for months or years. There are a small number that are not moving but these will already be in the enforcement process or granted an exception. .............Dave

Boaters and Steam Railways are an easy fix/political win. We produce a lot of visible smoke but are not a big part of the economy (or even a big producer of pollution). Tackling air travel is more economically and politically difficult so best avoided. ...............Dave

Hire boats are not "commercial" because they are used for pleasure boating so must pay the propulsion rate. ............Dave

But its not just cheapskates, it will be 30p more than the supermarkets and in winter I use half of it for heating/hot water/battery charging. In winter we travel less and keep a car with us so I will just keep some jerry cans in the car. I have just got myself a pump, hoses and fittings to make the job of getting it into the boat easy and spill-free. ...............Dave

I doubt they will be chasing boaters to dip our tanks, but they might have to inspect the diesel sellers, I suspect the EEC law says they might have to take reasonable steps to enforce their law, but then again based on my own experiences with EEC regulations there is usually a "get out clause" to allow the French to do as they please, the EEC only gets excited when the English try to do the same. The "not selling your self built boat in five years" is jut one example of one of these clauses. The self produced "design file" rather than independent testing of some electronic goods is another. ..............Dave