Tim Lewis

At todays's depressed prices it shouldn't cost anything like £2k to move a boat by lorry /crane. It's only an hours drive between the Chelmer and the lea and there yards on the Lea that have cranes that will put you in (Don't think the crane at Heybridge will lift a narrowboat, assuming that is what you have). Tim

I don't wear gloves in the summer (Whats that!) but as I do a lot of winter boating it is nice to have a good pair of waterproof gloves. Ski gloves are can be very waterproof but using them to work locks is a nightmare due to the non-slip coating on the palm when using a windlass without a rotating handle! Tim

Lots of useful stuff here. Tim

Many years ago a group of us from the Severn Valley Railway hired two boats from Middlewich for a mainly drinking cruise round the (I think) four counties ring. After a particuarly long night in the pubs of Audlum I eventally staggered back to my boat only to hear a shout that they'd opened a bottle of something on the other boat. I immediately made a bee line to the side hatch and leapt onto the towpath, unfortunately the sidehatch wasn't on the towpath side! This caused much hilarity and as much as we tried I couldn't be hauled back in through the hatch so I doggy paddled to the front of the boat intending to climb out onto the towpath. Unfortunately at this point one of my so called friends decided to do a technicolour yawn off the bows. Needless to say I was not too pleased (It was only the next morning before he realised that he should have said ' I don't remember eating that!) Tim

Not just roads, I was bought up in Stourbridge in the Black Country and went to school near Lye except that it was known to locals as 'The Lye', never found out why. Tim

Did the Nene a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised as we had a nightmare trip down there twenty years ago, which is another story. The Northampton arm is hardly a trudge, it's nice to get back to Narrow locks after the GU main line. The old problem was the bloody awful bottom gillotine gate mechanism but a large percentage have now been electrified and some convered to traditional gates. However the unelectrified ones have been fitted with aluminium wheels to operate the gillotines which are a pain. Have never felt the need to get the anchor out on the Nene. You will need an EA 'Abloy' key to operate the Nene locks, best buy in advance if possible, we had to beg one off a boat coming up the Northampton Arm once as the boat yard that sells them at the top was closed! Mooring places are not that frequent but have never failed to moor up close to where we wanted to. Tim

A number of years ago I spent a number of weekends with two canal restoration groups helping, at BW's request, to clear out a couple of the Hanwell side ponds. We got increasingly frustrated over the coming years that nothing further was happening that when last year we were asked to repeat the excercise the membership of the groups refused point blank to assist knowing that we probably wasting our time again. This is not a knock BW reply but should act as a warning that volunteers have long memories. Tim

Sounds like all the miserable types aren't going which should mean more beer for the sociable types that are Tim

The tidal Thames does not have Red Boards. The amount of 'fresh' water entering the tideway makes no difference on this section, what you need to be aware of is the state of the tide and the wind! Tim

Am slightly confused, apart from the fact that the planned canal to St Albans was never built, a convienient point, say Watford, is easily do-able from Braunston in four (long) days Tim

I think you are confused about about H & S responsibilities, it should be the council being prosecuted for endangering canal users, the simplest risk assessment would have shown that the vehicle being used was unsuitable. Tim

The Old River Lea is part of the Bow Back Rivers, the River Lea main line remains open. Tim

The pub in the Market Square (The Market Tavern) is excellent - it is the brewery tap for the Warwickshire Brewery. The hotel on the crossroads does good bar food (Well it did when I was last there) Tim

There are a lot of cruising clubs that have premises - perhaps you could ask to attend one of their club nights, most boat clubs belong to the AWCC, their web site is: http://awcc.org.uk/ Tim

Stopped in Nuneaton last year to try to find a decent pub, not a mistake we will make again! The quarries are gradually being filled in. Tim

Eventually found the time, pictures here. Tim