Junemc153

Called in at the Shady Oak at Beeston on Saturday. It is under new management and things have improved greatly. The food is good home cooking at reasonable prices and the new landlord and landlady are trying their best to make a go of it. They also have some real ales too. Had a really tasty home made meat and tater pie with chips and peas - £5.95. Fish and chips £5.95. Good selection of desserts to. They inherited a lot of the previous tenants debts and have a lot of work to do to make a go of it. Saturday night they had put on a 70's disco - didn't stay for that but at least they are trying to attract business. There is also a psychic night on 9th May. I know there has been some negative reviews on the forum in the past but give it a go. Just for information, I am not in any way connected to the Shady Oak but have visited on a number of occasions and have always enjoyed it there. Having said that the new tenants are doing an excellent job.

Our first nb holiday was from the hire base at Autherly. We went to Stourport, turned round, went past Autherly and got as far as the Cross Keys pub before turning round. As novices it was a great trip and there was lots of different things to see - good facilities too with shopping at Kidderminster and Stourport. It is by far my favourite canal now and I would recommend it to anybody as a first trip

Can recommend the Shady Oak at Beeston - good food. With regard to moorings in Chester we usually moor just under the bridge past the winding hole opposite the OAP sheltered housing. Have moored there on a number of occasions and found it to be great - good access to the shops and near the walls. Try to avoid mooring by the pub just before you go under the bridge (by the winding hole) as it can get very noisy - particularly at weekend.

I can recommend Napton Narrowboats - used them a couple of times. Particularly their Edwardian Elite range.

Had one of the worst meals I have ever had in a pub in the Red Lion a couple of years ago. They had no meat as the "butcher hadn't delivered" so half the menu was off - they offered us "a hand made local beef burger" which when it came was out of a package and like cardboard - my husband refused to eat it and said that it certainly wasn't hand made or local". The response was "yes but its made of meat"! they got really snotty about it too. And it was nearly £10 for the burger - we refused to pay. At the time everybody was saying how good the pub was but it was just expensive and not good. Best pub on the canal I have eaten in is the Navigation Inn on the Staffs & Worcs. Had all day breakfast for £5.95 (inc tea) which could have fed all four of us!

We did Aqueduct Marina to Chester and back in September last year and the year before onwards to Boat Museum at Ellesmere port. It's a lovely run I think and what's more you moored exactly where we did (although we winded at the winding hole in Chester and backed up under the bridge to be away from the noisy pub there. Shady Oak has been closed on Monday's during quiet periods since September last year - not sure about the summer.

a big YES for a new Boat. Friends of ours got brand new boat and are now in litigation over the stuff that was wrong on the boat that has shown up in less than 12 months - the majority of which are structural and relate to electrics (i.e not earthed!). The boat is not fit for purpose and some of the stuff wrong with it is downright dangerous. Boat survey was done by boat builder (common practice I understand) - need I say more.

Really enjoyed it. Found Guy and Mave to be interesting and genuinely interested in what they were doing. We don't have our own boat - but wished we did. Hubby was frothing at the mouth at the sight of that engine (he's a mechanic) and really enjoyed the segments about the smelting of the iron and the pottery and wedgewood. Visited Blists Hill at ironbridge and lost other half for nearly whole day as he stood in the foundry there watching them making sand moulds, casting and the eventual end product. I love industrial heritage and canals and all the stuff related to coal, pottery, iron making and so on go together. The canals are part of our industrial heritage and I think this is what the programme makers are trying to show (perhaps the title is a bit misleading). Can't wait for next week - steam engines are my passion! Off to Shropshire for our hols and will be spending lots of time in Ironbridge at all the lovely museums there! BTW I loved the show "Industrial Revelations" with Mark Williams which has been shown on Discovery Shed (along with more Industrial Revelations). He makes the topic really interesting (he used to be a history teacher). You learn how things used to be done and how lots of common terms we use in speech today are related to our industrial heritage (mad as a hatter, carry the can, etc., etc.)

Hi Macclesfield and maybe on to Bugsworth Basin. We did this last year in 10 days from Aqueduct Marina (a bit further down the line than you) but we only had one long day and spent the rest dawdling along with long lunches! There's heartbreak hill to contend with but we really enjoyed it. Navigation pub at Bugsworth is excellent (lovely home made food and real ale) and the Village Fryery in Whalley Bridge is by far the best chippy I have ever been to - they only do English food and the fish is suckable! (hope you understand this!). Worth the short walk from Bugsworth. Lovely scenery too. The romping donkey at Hassall Green (lock 57 on T&M) serves great food at very reasonable prices. Dandelion & Burdock too (also at Navigation). Red Bull Hotel just before you get onto Macclesfield is also worth a visit. Hope this helps June

Why don't you approach premier inn to see if they will give you a room for free as you are collecting for charity? It would give them a bit of free publicity and would be part of the sponsorship! Same with the other big chains travel lodge/holiday inn express Saves you paying June

Can somebody tell me if it is o.k. for a boat builder to issue a BSS for a boat that they have just completed? I know of a recent case where a boat builder issued a BSS and then within a couple of months it turned out that the electrical wiring hadn't been completed properly (not earthed, inverter not wired in/sited properly) and had to be completely re-done. The boat builder had passed the electrics off as being safe but they certainly weren't. Surely BSS should be issued independently before the boat can be taken by the new owners?

Similar thing happened to me earlier this year. Strong wind took the back of the boat when I was getting back on after doing a lock. Fortunately I come with my own dual airbags (!) and didn't get them wet as I managed to grab onto the back of the boat. Unfortunately no ladder available but with engine off managed to gently push boat nearer to bank where I could stand up and then, with assistance of the pole, climb out onto the bank. Very scary when it happens (bruised arm and skinned my little finger (which is still sore) but amusing after the incident. I am the most careful person in the world and have even been known to walk a mile before getting back onto the boat if I am not comfortable so it just goes to show how easy it is (and quickly) for things to go wrong. Glad you are o.k. though - a hot shower does wonders! June

we live in southport (not far from Aintree) and certainly wouldn't recommend mooring in the area (beware bandits!!). You might be able to hire from Red Lion Caravans which is at Scarisbrick (http://www.redlioncaravans.com) and prices start from £250 for a weekend (Fridy to Monday)and you should easily make Aintree in the weekend. Alternatively St. Mary's wharf on the Rufford Branch (http://www.stmarysmarina.co.uk) used to do hire boats but I can't see anything on their website. June

Just a quick point. Borrowed my sister and brother in law's boat for a week recently and filled it up with diesel for her. She said to use 20/80 split and to fill in the details on the declaration form at the filling point. Person who filled it up didn't even want the boat licence no. only name as she said nobody has ever checked them and they just get filed for a period of time and then chucked!

Just in case anybody is interested 5 of the top brass at BW are shown in the list of employees of QUANGOs earning more than 150,000 (go the Cabinet Office and you will be able to access the spreadsheet with details). Top five earn at least £683,000 between them! Let's hope that any cuts in funding start at the top

As a fairly new hirer (we have hired from Napton Narrowboats for the past two years) I find this discussion interesting. We are two couples of “forty somethings” who thought long and hard about a canal boat holiday and then did loads of research about hire companies, and also did some reading about using the canals themselves, how locks work, etc., etc. In fact we would have been happy to spend a couple of hours or so before picking up the boat to get some training. We have hired from both Napton bases and found our first experience at Autherley Junction to be most excellent. The staff let us load our stuff on the boat and then spent a good hour going over the boat in detail, both in domestic and engine terms, steering, weedhatch etc. and this included the health and safety elements too. We were also told about speed limits and the protocols relating to moored boats. We were then walked to the stop lock and had an explanation of how it worked before we even got the boat moving. The guy then came with us through the lock (we opened and closed it) stayed with us for 15 mins or so until he was confident in our abilities. Last year we hired from the Napton base, again we got the detailed talk but this was interrupted by other hirers who wanted to get out onto the canal and couldn’t wait until the staff member had finished with us. Fortunately we were able to get the boat out ourselves and left the staff to the other hirers. The base at Napton has far more boats than at Autherley and I think this is the difference. Everybody turned up at 3.00 p.m. at Napton and it was a free for all. We were in no rush and were happy to wait but others aren’t and this is where the problems start – the WE MUST GET OUT BEFORE EVERYBODY ELSE attitude. At Autherley there were two members of staff and about four boats so it wasn’t too bad. We now have the bug for canal life and this year have the use of our friends’ boat (they trust us!) instead of hiring. Sorry this is long but I thought it might help the discussion. June PS on our first trip we did meet somebody who said "hire boaters are dangerous and don't get enough training" and then proceeded to nearly drown me when he opened the ground paddles fully as we were going up a lock!

We are planning this year's holiday (in June) and would like some advice please. We have considered the Llangollen but thought it would be too busy. Don't think we have enough time to do the Chesire or Four Counties so we have come up with an alternative. We will be setting off from the middlewich arm of the Shroppie and are considering a trip up to bugsworth basin and back. Is this doable in 8 days? If so does anybody have any recommendations regarding pubs/moorings. BTW I can highly recommend the Village Fryery in Whalley Bridge - the best fish and chips in the uk and their home made steak pies and pickled onions (proper onions pickled as opposed to those you get in a jar) are excellent. I can especially recommend the battered black pudding and haggis! Got some really useful advice last year with regard to our trip on the Oxford so I hope you can help me out again this year. Thanks June

Thanks everybody- it looks like the Bridge for us. Menu on the website looks fab. Now Counting down the days June

Can anybody recommend a good pub in Napton that does food. We will be setting out on our second holiday with Napton Narrowboats and need to find a place to meet up with our friends for lunch before we collect the boat. Thanks June

We were on the S&W in June and agree about Stourton. Greensforge and Kinver are both excellent but both were quite busy and depending on when you arrive you might struggle to get a space.

Hi Ian We are from the North! I think this is why we were hoping to go "south" But thanks anyway