Cheshire cat

The one at Meaford has got some protection now but I noticed last month it has still managed to get some new grooves in the stonework

A bridge strike by something large has closed the canal and the road at bridge 16 closure notice A further update promised by 8th May

We have been on the Nene before and are aware of it's delights. I'm also aware that it becomes more beautiful the further downstream you venture. Unfortunately we are constrained by the journey to get to Gayton and other summer plans that our co-travellers already have in place. We are planning to go in July so hope there is a low risk of SSA. If it is possible to buy two weeks back to back then we could possibly do longer days to get to and from Gayton which would give us more time on the river. At this stage I'm trying to weigh up our options.

Yes, that's where I was suggesting or just a bit further east. There are often one or two boats moored up around there. It's been smartened up significantly over the last couple of decades.

I'm trying to understand the licence options for visitors. Is it the case that I can buy a day or a week or a month or can you buy combinations? I would actually like to be on the river for eight days but there's a big difference between a weekly licence and a monthly one as far as I can see.

I paid £5 to see the Hotel California tour at Bingley Hall Stafford

I would moor on the towpath side below the first lock just to the west of the already mentioned basin that is now out of bounds. If you look on Google Earth you can see a couple of boats moored there. There are bollards and rings. I have seen boats moored there almost every time ive walked or cycled past.

That is the one. If a meaningful start has been made we will have to await the outcome

I'm late to the party but here goes. What o did was to drill the holes so they accepted a small rawlplug. (The yellow ones). I then put a dab of sealant on the screw and screwed it in. No problems so far.

I seem to recall there was a planning application put in to build a marina on the T&M at Wedgwood. Did anything ever come of it?

The exploded diagram which I think I got from the Thetford website is a little confusing because it has been printed showing the toilet upside down. Depending on when your loo was manufactured you can see the fuse as item 64A or 64B. In our case I located the fuse only to discover it was OK. Tracing the wires back to our wash basin cabinet I discovered the boat builder had very helpfully fitted another inline fuse in a more convenient location. It was covered in verdigras. A quick clean up with emery paper and the loo is fully functional again. Good Luck

On the electric ones that second "knob" is the toilet roll holder hidden by what in effect is a lid.

I was under the impression that there is a retired sliding bridge on the Ulverston canal.

Has it ever worked? I'm asking because ours looks like that but it is electric flush. When it stopped working it was because the fuse had blown. If I remember correctly it was a blade fuse and was hidden inside the unit. I found it by searching through the hatch using a torch and mirror

I can cofirm that it was Clements Engineering that Crowthers recommended. They posted the information on their facebook page and I made sure to bookmark it at the time

Not sure what they mean by squalid. It's a newly built block

I managed to turn Fradley junction green at some point years ago. I was looking for a leak in my boat. can't remember the detail

I got £12 each last week. Paid by BACS. Money in my account the same day.

In what way do you want them rating? Birmingham & Fazeley is out usual route. The drug dealers and users are pleasant enough. Never had any issues but we've never moored before we got to the countryside. The Bridgewater to Worsley or Altrincham is safe enough and deep and wide. The Ashton is a far pleasanter experience than it was 20 years ago. All of the industry has gone and much of the deprivation swept away. I've never tried the Rochdale apart from the city centre locks so best for others to comment

I think Birmingham can rightly claim to be a destination with a reasonable amount of mooring space whereas Manchester is just a passage to somewhere else. The Bridgewater is OK until you get to Stretford cruising club and after that I wouldn't think of stopping until I got north of Picadilly station. It's OK around the apartments before you start the Ashton flight and handy enough for the northern quarter and city centre.. The Ashton flight itself is OK these days but there's not really any reason to stop.

Camra did have an app but due to some changes on Android it started to malfunction and so was withdrawn from the Google app store. I think its still around for apple. www.whatpub.com works well, more so if you are a Camra member because you can turn the adverts off and score the beer. It doesn't tell you what beer is on in real time but gives info on what the staple beers are for a particular pub. Camra vouchers are accepted in a lot more pubs than just Wetherspoons. I always forget to carry mine.

It was sold last summer. The volunteer lockies said it was sold for 95K if I remember correctly and the buyer was planning to use it for AirBNB

Given the doom and gloom in this thread you've got to wonder why restorations are continuing. Someone has told me that C&RT are declining to take on an newly restored waterways. Has there been an official statement on this? I can't find one.

I thought Ford had announced they wouldn't be doing any more ICE models On topic, as a leisure boater if licences treble I would probably give up boating. I would favour withdrawing maintenance from the lesser used parts of the system. Of course the arguments will start with regards to defining them.

I heard whispers that it had been sorted out which is why I asked the question. From the lack of confirmation on here I guess not.