Mac of Cygnet

According to Mr Google, it was a swing bridge, which seems much simpler. I wonder why they went to the trouble of a complicated sliding mechanism?

I presume the company you got a quote from was Shire Cruisers? I moored with them for 12 years and found them very fair and helpful (we had previously hired from them). I don't think they would be overcharging - it's just the going rate for hiring a boat, because of the very stringent and high cost requirements of running a hire fleet. However because of the ongoing troubles with the Rochdale and Huddersfield canals, and even the Calder and Hebble, you may want to look further afield, and may even get a cheaper deal if a boatyard has last-minute availability. Edited to say that I would actually require to be paid to take a half-board holiday in Majorca.

I got a cheap cordless chainsaw from Lidl, not expecting much, but in fact I find I use it frequently for clearing shrubs and small trees that seem to spring up everywhere. Even when foraging for firewood I found I only had to resort to the petrol saw when I had got most of what I was getting that session. (I also have a corded electric saw which I use for cutting up firewood at home and two petrol saws, as well as several defunct ones, kept for spares, I kid myself.)

Wouldn't like to be their telephone receptionist: Siemens Building Technologies Ltd, Staines , TW18 3AY Businessmagnet https://www.businessmagnet.co.uk › company › siemens...

You wouldn't want to mess around with jimsonweed (although some people will try anything). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium

Fascinated by the transformation of a Buddha into a bodega. Very handy.

Lady G was talking about gardeners, not boaters.

I was forced to do this a few weeks ago, due to a blocked drain between my house and the septic tank down by the river. It took a fortnight to discover the site of the blockage (tree roots) dig it out and clear it, then replace a length of drain, during which time I couldn't use the WC at all.I therefore went and got a very cheap 'portable toilet' from Argos (basically a bucket with a seat) and used my huge supply of sawdust. The result went into one of my 'Dalek' composting bins together with other composting material. Actually, I'm rather looking forward to finding what the result is next year, if that doesn't sound too weird.

A new word! One of the shorter definitions : "In inorganic chemistry, olation is the process by which metal ions form polymeric oxides in aqueous solution. The phenomenon is important for understanding the relationship between metal aquo complexes and metal oxides, which are represented by many minerals." But thr Free Online Dictionary had never heard of it.

A slightly hopeful snippet in that: "We need to create a ‘third pillar’ of public spending which is earmarked for long term preventative investment which enables a shift away from reactive services." If nothing else it may be useful to remind him of this.

But 1/6/24 to 1/5/25 is in fact 12 payments if they are on the 1st of each month. If you were billed on the 28 April and again on the 1st May then you are indeed paying twice. Unless it is changing from paying in arrears to paying in advance. If it were me I would query it again.

I see that it mentions the bridges of Madison County, the exact title of the acclaimed film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.

You don't need to suspect - Froghall is a problem to most boats even with nothing on the roof. Cygnet managed some very low bridges on the Middle Level but drew the line at Froghall. But the OP likely wouldn't need to go through there.

Yes, but you, to everyone's relief, did a Lazarus.

It's only when you see long-ago but well remembered posters turn up that you realise a thread is 19 years old!