kawaton

its a case of reality over your personal preference. All those routes can be done in a week. Comfortably for many people. I did the four counties from Shobnall my first time At least youve found out they have moved

Agreed when they were at Mercia, but not now they are at BTM. Ashby and return is simple enough or Caldon and return or four counties lots of routes tbh

Ive hired from lots of different companies over the last 25 years, and taking into account price, quality of boat, service and a boat suitable for kids there is no better than https://www.aquanarrowboats.co.uk/narrowboat-hire/

Nice, Thanks. only have memories of the one. A 13 year old warning though.....is that a record?

I too have been a member since the old forum, (albeit under a different name back then) Every time i come on here there are people complaining that the forum is going down the swanny, its been said by someone or other for 15 years. It does make me laugh! ....many have left, many more have come. i consistently do both There were some big fallings out in the early days too, it will never change. So get over it, take a break, leave, or change name. Its not hard. Also ive had a warning on my account for 10 years, since a drunken friend at a house party sat at my PC and changed my avatar to something someone deemed offensive. Even the DVLA have removed my points a few times since then.

I grew up a few miles away from the D&D, and my old school mates dad used to own it. It used to be much better then than it is now. The food, beer, gardens, events and clientele are all less desirable these days. That said i'd still rank it high on canalside pubs as the food and beer arent bad, and its in a nice location.

One of the forums earliest members (also at the time THE youngest member). I remember when he bought that boat. Hope all turns out well.

Sorry, I don't think I explained myself very well. During and after WW2 a high % of the population were behind the war effort. The combined war effort. Soldiers and civilians....everyone was involved in some way. Nowadays people aren't behind our wars, are not as patriotic, and are not involved themselves. In many cases people haven't got the foggiest where our soldiers are and what they are doing. Therefore when they return, not enough support, time, care or consideration is given. from either Healthcare or Joe Public. I have a friend in Afghanistan at the moment, and has been for the last 18 months. I worked with him after his previous 3 tours. He left our company as he "needed" to get back to that way of life as he struggled with many things in the unforgiving corporate world. Most people don't appreciate we are still over there. 100% agree with the last bit. In the case of my friend, I listened, bought drinks (which is rare for me) and tried to protect him in the work place....no one else did though. They put his stories down to bravado and allowed no time or patience.

I don't know all the facts, but I'd imagine there is more help out there now than there has ever been. It's just that today there is the internet and much improved communication methods and we hear about "events" more. I see people on the local "informed" pages saying things like there are more accidents in certain places than there has ever been....yet I have known of those places having accidents all my life....it's just now everyone gets to hear about it....whereas in the past it would stay local. in the 1950's a crime in Cornwall would not be heard of or discussed in Newcastle I've met many ex WW2 servicemen who by the time I was growing up were hitting on pensionable age. There were stories from their younger years of fighting, drinking, being tough people to deal with etc etc. During post war Britain ex servicemen went into employment and got on with it.....but their troubles still existed. Nowadays (manual) jobs are harder to come by. Supportive communities seem to be few and far between, and cheap drink and drugs can be bought anywhere. The modern day ex service men I have met struggle with ...... Finances - Families supported each other more after WW2. No phones, laptops, far flung holidays, nice cars, to keep up with the rest of society. Drugs - Hard pushed to find anybody who had heard of them 50 years ago. Now even in the smallest of villages you can buy what you need. Not to mention the fact that most people don't give two hoots about soldiers nowadays, as the view tends to be we shouldn't be in a war. At the end of WW2 national pride was at its highest, we welcomed back soldiers, families supported them, local jobs were available and social drugs were non existent. I just believe that blaming the Healthcare system is not the cause or the answer. Don't know what is mind

Although, agree no apology needed (just respectful) as humans speculate, speculation leads to discussion, which keeps topics alive/active (which ultimately when a boat is missing is a good thing)

Thats my favourite spot too (Audlem) We always stop there when going through There is no better place To get away from the rat race

Another which one question. Which is the better option....? Going north through Watford flight/Crick on Tuesday 29th (midday) or Going south through Crick/Watford Flight/Braunston Early Wednesday 30th? My thought was traffic would be worse going south on the Wednesday as most people would be going in that direction if leaving the show, whereas going north on Tuesday afternoon would result in meeting other boats going south and so not creating too much of a delay at the Watford flight.

I will only comment on this section, as I too am happy to be on the move for 12-13 hours at the start of my trips......and I have completed this route many times. Last time I left Barbridge at 3pm we stopped at the bottom of the Audlem flight just before nightfall (summer) you can then get an early start up the flight. However appreciate you may not be able to achieve this. We then tend to go from Audlem to Gnosall leaving at 0630 and arriving around 18.00. That's assuming a relatively smooth trip through the Audlem, Adderley and Tyrley flights, along with Woodseaves cutting where delays can/will be incurred. Nantwich to Gnosall in my opinion is pushing it....(more like 14-15 hours) The following day we have in the past planned to complete Gnosall-Gt Haywood, but more often than not we fall short and stay around Acton Trussell. That in itself is a long day, 11-12 hours, and if pushing on further you may not find moorings between Tixall and Gt Haywood late in the day during Summer. (don't tend to like the mooring options around Radford. Edit to add - Sandon to Brewood also looks overly ambitious....again 15 hours. (With it being the end of such a big trip i'd be knackered and want shorter days by then) I would suggest sandon to Calf Heath and then Calf heath to MD the next day. (evens it out a bit)