richardf

Sounds great, I will give them a ring Thanks for your advice Richard

I remember Hatherton - is it a nice place to moor - safe/friendly/reasonably priced? Wolverhampton just sounds a tad like bandit country to me! What's a good weekend cruise from there for instance? We did moor opposite about 3 years ago and had a fairly chaotic meal in the club on the other side of the bridge!

Always known as 'Coal Boat Martin' I saw him a couple of years ago being interviewed on TV. He was the spokesman for a group of barge dwellers on The Thames in London. Think they were facing eviction at the time.

I can't visualise it, it's a couple of years since we went that way - and there is very little online that I can find. It's spot on location wise though

We would like to move Marcellus onto a mooring on the Shroppie - somewhere south of Audlem (at the very farthest North). Our ideal location would be a small marina, with power and a nice social bunch of moorers - but definitely not a huge impersonal 'boat park' Has anybody got any suggestions please Thanks

Brilliant - have a greenie

Where does his guide dog sleep?

I think Norbury Junction on the Shroppie will hire you a boat and rent you a cottage

When I was young and thought I knew everything, I bought an ex hire boat from a seller in Kidsgrove, it was a David Piper hull (considered a good name in those days - maybe still are!)and the seller assured me that it was fine. On his word I bought it without a survey; subsequently I was in the chandlery at Red Bull and got talking to David Piper himself - he hinted that the boat had flogged up and down the shallow Llangollen for many years and that hire boats that had been on this route often had a problem 'in each corner' due to hirers running the bow and stern into the bank when mooring and setting off. Sure enough, at the first blacking I had it surveyed - the sacrificial edges were like razor blades and it ended up costing me a new bottom (60ft)- at the time, it was money I didn't have. It looked great above the water - but was a horror show below it - I would never buy another boat without a survey

The red boards were out at Stourport yesterday - pretty low down the red zone, but the flow looked pretty scary nonetheless!

I think it needs a bit more support in the middle of the boat than it currently has - just an observation!

I think this is a very subtle attempt at flushing Gibbo out again!

Beware of Osney Bridge - it can be a chimney knocker!

Disgusting

My boat was built and fitted by Ian Clifton - sadly he only built a few before he died. Mine was done in the late 90s and is still looking good today. Not sure about the SR3 though - might be a tad noisy in the middle of the boat!

But they have (had) a chance to get this one right - why build in problems from the start of the restoration? When I mentioned it to SDC, it was clear that it had never even occurred to them. The CCT in an update only this week referred to the new bridge being 'largely complete, albeit at a slightly jaunty angle' - does it not occur to them that people are being inconvenienced and that a late change to the design of the project will have major effects on the overall cost - be that HLF or SDC(council tax payers) money I hope the event is a success and I hope the restoration goes well, but those directly responsible (SDC) and those additionally involved in the project (like the Cotswolds Canal Trust) should be aware that the majority of residents/council tax payers are against this project - on the basis of cost and upheaval. What is happening is not a good way to win 'hearts and minds' Edited to include an excerpt from the Stroud on the Water website ''The restoration is behind schedule. However, a lot of hard work has quietly gone on and we are confident that there will be a canal for the trail-boat festival to take place on. The reasons for the hold-ups are many, and anyone with project management experience will understand the myriad of issues with contracts of this nature and particularly environmental regulatory approvals. The plan is moving but is currently as follows: Work is now taking place on the two Dudbridge locks (see photos on the “news” page). However, it looks very unlikely that they will be operational in time for the festival. The former plan “B” has therefore become the new plan “A”. As a consequence of this we shall have two full-width but not connected lengths of canal. The length through the festival site will be quite short, but will have all facilities on its doorstep''

As a resident living close to Ocean Bridge, I can tell exactly what has happened - the Ocean project has gone completely off the rails. What was originally a 14 week project is now approximately double that. The Project Manager admits that he is having to go back to the contractor for a redesign - partly in order to increase the angle at which the bridge swings and partly to do something to reduce the 200 turns on the windlass that is now required to swing the bridge. I have also asked him how a single handed boater would manage to moor on the towpath, walk across the bridge, open it and then get back to his boat - currently he would need to swim. Just one huge cock up from beginning to end. The Project Manager has promised us all updates every Thurs - the first of which was supposed to arrive yesterday, but didn't. Currently they don't have a clue when it will be finished If you want to see how the project is really progressing - try looking at the lock close to Sainsburys - that has months of work left in it - and yet the original idea was to send boats from the rally site down to The Ocean. Even the CCT member on the workboat that I spoke to told me that the event is being held a year too early. In the past, when I have asked Stroud DC for a progress report, they mutter phrases like ' we have a meeting with the contractor in 2 weeks time and we will know more then' - they are simply sheltering under the mantle of the design and build contract that they let - but ultimately they signed it off and should be responsible.

I once saw it motoring down the Bristol Gorge on its way to the Severn. Both boat and owner are a one off - Jim once performed an entire hull survey on a boat that I owned without taking off his bow tie! Having condemned the baseplate and leaving me curled in the foetal position in the corner of the dock - he then asked if he could take some camera slides of it to use in one of his presentations as a warning to folk thinking of buying an older narrowboat!! I can laugh about it now - 24 years hence!

Last weekend we walked up the hill into Cookley - if you are coming from the North, go through the tunnel and then moor up before the lock. There are two pubs, a curry house, chip shop and a Tesco Express - also one or two 'local shops'

Can anyone shed any light as to what activity goes on at Charity Dock these days - whenever I go past it reminds me of a Max Max/Waterworld set with a load of scrap added! Are they still actively working on boats, I think there is a dry dock, but not sure if it would be easy to get in and out. I've always thought it would be a great place to spend half a day looking at all the junk and trying to identify it!

What about the top face of a (vertical) silencer - has anyone had a BSS issue with this? I was thinking about just sitting some rockwool on it for the test!

My exhaust is within reach of the steerer and has a hinge a third of the way up. It is a long pipe (smoky engine) and is only needed on a very few low bridges on the Staffs & Worcs - having said that, it needed dropping under the ridiculous new bridge at Falling Sands! I'll take a pick next time I'm down at the boat if you wish - doesn't look like a difficult thing for a fabricator to knock up.