Tam & Di

I have always understood that if someone moves a boat they become liable if damage subsequently occurs. I strongly suspect that the sequence would be that any claim by OP would have to be made against the owner of the boat that damaged his, but the owner of the offending boat would then in turn claim against whoever moved it. This person might in turn say he was authorised by the marina owner ... The Lawyers then retire on their ill-gotten gains Tam

Fertiliser bags were evil in wet weather for what they did to your knuckles. Also no matter how hard you scrubbed it was impossible to get rid of all traces of coal dust. When Di paid for shopping she would hold the money clenched in her hands facing downwards and just open them and drop the cash on the counter, so the shop keeper would not see how dirty they looked. The photo is 10 years before the strike, loading at Gopsall, with Stamford shortly before I changed my colour scheme to red panels and blue border separated by cream line. Tam

Ban cyclists from the towpaths (and reintroduce towage by horse 😃) Tam

Ditchcrawler will doubtless recall being shown how to flick lines off when he was with us. Handling lines is an acquired skill, but if you have the wrong weight or wrong type it makes it much more difficult or even impossible. https://www.facebook.com/100001513232105/videos/3242737045786705 Tam

Our first was born during a brief sojourn in a flat, but the second was born in the fore cabin of the wideboat Progress (semi-converted still at that time, and now under restoration by Chris Collins - see thread). I was watching from an overhead hatch. The midwife was egging Di on to be quick as she'd never attended a birth on a boat and it was near the end of her shift. She had me pin up newspaper to cover the rough timber shearing, then after a bit she told me to put a kettle on. I assumed the time was nigh, but when it boiled she told me to make a pot of tea. It all went to schedule though. They were brought up on boats and were about 7 and 11 when we went barrel boating, and they were (sort of) home educated from that point. They don't seem to have suffered greatly from it 😃 Tam

I have quite a few drawings from various sources - I'll try to find time to dig them out. As I'm stuck in Twickenham for a few months it's probably time for me to get rid of a lot of other stuff such a guaging rods, cans, windlasses etc too. 🤷‍♂️ Tam

What's the matter with bidets, that's what I want to know? Pretty much do away with loo paper entirely 😃 Useful for washing feet too 👣 Tam

I don't know if there's a hint of irony there. I'm not putting down the capability of UK fuel boat skippers, but Frank is rather underplaying the skills and knowledge involved. There's obviously opportunity to learn in the role of deck hand, but you'd be mixing it with the big boys of 2000t+. To note a few of the hurdles, you'd have to have sufficient German to communicate on VHF with other skippers, lock keepers etc; you'd have to know the CEVNI rules inside out in that environment or you'd get into serious problems very quickly; 12 hour days at this time of year involve a lot of night time boating and steering by radar; you'd have to be on top of the enormous amount of bureaucracy and paperwork requirements involved in day-to-day running, certification and maintenance. I'm sure it's doable, but it's no romantic idyll. Tam

I'm sure it's pretty much the same in all the Belgian towns 😁 Tam

In the UK it is likely to be shopping trolleys. Not in Ghent though. Here's one of their annual clear-ups under way Tam

I think Alan Boswell of Uxbridge Boat Centre still has the one he bought. Tam

They were still taking timber barges up to yards at Southall, Cowley Peachey and Uxbridge then. When we bought the wideboat Progress we had a mooring at Cowley and I converted her there. The lowest bridge up from Brentford was Packet Boat Bridge, and they frequently had to take a few planks off the top to get through. I'd gather up these hardwood planks and leave them in the garden for a bit to dry and in case anyone wished to claim them, but no-one ever did, and Progress won some very fine bulkheads. The next bridge was Benbow Bridge and that has the tightest arch. If the steerer was stood on a box to steer I'd go up in our dinghy 'cos I knew they'd have thrown off a few more at the top offside of the load there. Tam

I just had a look at the sales details for Mersey in 1993. The notes say that Mersey (ex Arthur) was for sale at £5000, and that the price took account of the fact that the bottom required "a certain amount" of replating. Presumably someone did something about that for it to still be afloat now. Tam

A strange boast!!!! However debts are written off after 6 years by the Limitations Act 😡

We put the name back to Mersey when we acquired her June 1988, though in this photo Sept 1989 she still has "Arthur" on the fore end bulwarks from when in John Liley's previous ownership. We sold her 1993 (as Mersey). Tam

And at Vankerkoven's yard near Charleroi they move the support chocks to give access to the hidden bits. I think that is common in most continental yards Tam