Athy

You may be largely right, but it's loosely correct.

No, it is not. I assume you were joking.

The tug-style narrowboat is interesting - firstly because of its location, and secondly because of its large number of chimneys. Perhaps a second, otherwise invisible, narrowboat was moored outside it?

Yes, it could be either "The police are actively following a line of enquiry" or "the police haven't got a clue".

Gosh, that's reawakened people's interest. Do tell us more.

There is no better word, for English is what it is. Perhaps it is the surprising absence of further news which has made people lose interest in the man's death. If, tomorrow, a headline such as "Murderer at loose on local canal" appeared, you can bet that people would quickly regain interest.

It would be interesting to know who coined the expression. Wouldn't it be illegal to isolate other people, unless you were in a position of authority e.g. a prison warder? Self-enforced, principally, is it not? Through a combination of behaving considerately and responsibly, and being afraid of catching the bug, most people are staying away from most other people.

So it's, y'know, basically a thinking pause. Is there any further information about the boater? If, as earlier posts suggest, he was not a popular man, foul play must be a possibility.

I had no idea that Wallis & Steevens' Advance rollers came in a diesel variant - I've seen a few, but they were all steam-powered - but I've checked on the internet and it apparently is so. One was listed for sale and had a similar National engine, so it looks as if that would be the original power.

We went for our first British drink this year on Sunday, to The Pig Place beside the Oxford Canal near Adderbury. There was evidence of sensible precautions: for example, a barrier in front of the counter over which we had to lean to pick up our drinks, and rectangular tables turned through 90 degrees to give more distance between facing pairs of settees. The "glasses" were single-use plastic, though they may always be anyway, and the barman obviously knew the recommended procedures. We felt quite safe having a drink there, though we would not recommend it in bad weather as it is totally outdoors. They stock a range of Hook Norton beers, which is a further plus point, and a draught cider which Mrs. Athy appreciated. EDIT: my and Mrsmelly's posts crossed.

Please remember that this thread is not in the Politics section, and try to avoid including controversial political comment in your posts here.

Because the nearer you are to a hire base, the earlier a boat would reach you. If you were 50 miles from one, it would take a couple of days for a boat to do that journey. If you moor next door to one, then it would be only a couple of minutes.

"Where 2 moor"? Is there a pun there which I haven't cottoned on to?

So, no word yet from police or press as to the cause of his demise?

That depends where you are. We took advantage of being allowed to stay on our boat and went over there on Saturday, the first possible day. We were quite surprised to see two Black Prnce boats pass our mooring (which is just below Cropredy town bridge) yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. I think their base is somewhere near Napton Junction. Another one passed us this morning as we were packing up to come home. The Sunday arrivals presumably left the base at the earliest opportunity (2. p.m., isn't it?) and must have boated till late in the evening going up the flight. That's quite feasible at this time of year as it's daylight until about half past nine, but they must have cracked on. I've never seen hire boats looking so spruce in July!