adam1uk

I can only assume you don't know the full extent of the subsidy given to the canals. In 2005/06, BW spent £190million. Boat licences raised £11million, with BW marinas and mooring permits raising another £11million. Utility companies, such as water, cable, and fibre-optic firms, paid £20million for access to the network, so their customers are already contributing through their charges. Government grants came in at £76million. Were these grants to be stopped and the 29000 boaters asked to make up the difference, it would cost each boat an extra £2620 on average. Now it's true that 10 million people visit the inland waterways each year. But that means 50 million don't.

You seem to be mis-understanding what I'm saying. My point is this: by all means call for the scrapping of arts subsidies, but be prepared for others to call for the scrapping of the government grant to the waterways. You're clearly not alone in thinking that people who want to enjoy the arts should pay the full price, and not have tickets subsidised by taxpayers. But there are undoubtedly people out there who think boaters, not taxpayers, should fund the full cost of running the canals. That would be a good point, if my previous post hadn't said:

I did. And you said: And you said: And you weren't the only one: I was merely pointing out that it's rather dangerous ground to call for the subsidy to the arts to be cut, at the same time as taking part in an activity which is itself subsidised. You resent paying for the price of opera tickets to be reduced; others might resent the price of boat licences being reduced. John thinks arts that can't pay for themselves should be allowed to die out; others might think that canals which can't pay for themselves should be allowed to go the same way. And I never said you had a £100,000 boat. But in the same way that you portrayed every opera-goer as a champagne sipping hooray, so someone opposed to subsidising the canals might portray boaters in much the same way. As with all stereotypes, the truth is rather different.

Isn't it slightly strange that so many of you object to subsidising the arts, yet have been so vocal in opposing the cuts to the subsidy of the canals? I'm sure there are many many people who think that nearly £80million going into the canals each year isn't a good use of taxpayers money. They probably wonder why they're subsidising people who can afford to spend £100,000 on a narrow boat. They'd probably argue that people who use the waterways should pay for their hobby or lifestyle. Surely we should accept that many things, such as the arts and the canals, enrich the life of the nation and deserve to be subsidised. Otherwise, people might think that we only want subsidies for the things we enjoy.

There's a new petition to this effect: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/LowBoatFuelTax/

As I understand it, yes. This means that there's no need for the Government to put the same level of duty on boating diesel as road diesel. I can't remember what the exact figure is, by 22p is in my mind for some reason. However, I suspect they're quite likely to put the full road fuel tax on, and claim it's the simplest way of doing it. I think what people should be campaigning for now is for the Government to impose only the EU minimum tax, not the full road fuel duty on boating diesel.

Just had an email to say that the Prime Minister has replied to the previous petition, which was started before the EU made its decision. The reply doesn't really say very much:

My thoughts exactly. We subscribed to Canal Boat at the IWA National, where the subs rate was a fraction of the cover price (and indeed a fraction of the subs cost advertised in the mag!)

Alrewas. Yes, that can be a bit dodgy.

If it hasn't yet gone to red, you'd have thought they could have moved the boat and arranged for you to pick it up from the quieter waters of the T&M. It's only a few hundred yards after all, and I doubt they've got dozens of boats going out this weekend.

Don't forget that if you're outside London but have Sky you can still watch this programme. BBC London is on Sky channel 974.

I had to drive to Birmingham and back this week, and noticed that the M40 has huge signs where the River Cherwell passes by the motorway, but there's no acknowledgement at all that the Oxford Canal passes right underneath the road. That's despite the river looking rather insignificant, while lift bridges and locks on the canal can been seen from the motorway. It seems a bit unfair, to me. But on the other hand, maybe it's quite nice that only those of us who know where to look pay attention to the canals as we speed by.

I've done the same, but it does really need to be warm for shorts in the rain to make any sense! In my defence, the day we went down the Lapworth in May had started chilly, but by the time we got to the flight the sun was splitting the sky and the temperature had gone up dramatically. In other words, it was actually shorts weather!

I remember some wet bits, especially the hail stones! But I also remember some dry bits, particularly having to change into shorts for the only time in the fortnight as we went down the Lapworth flight. You're right, though, memory is very selective.

Ah yes, I believe we were out the same fortnight in May and got wet everyday! However, I also got rather wet today waiting around outside a coroner's court. At least on a boat you have the changing scenery to look at, and there's a kettle close at hand!

What a great phrase! I'm going to remember that. And I'm hoping you not only rescued their weekend, but also made them think again about boating being a disaster.

We've hired many times, and have met all sorts of reactions from all sorts of boaters. We've shared locks with private boats, and ended up having excellent chats with the crew, who often know that stretch of canal very well and have all sorts of tips to offer. On the other hand, there have been private boaters who assumed we didn't know what we were doing and whose arrogance preceded them; and the ones who'd just had their boat painted, and were obsessed by not scratching it (in which case I wondered why they'd gone anywhere near the Lapworth flight, with its narrow locks, tricky short pounds, and fierce by-washes). We've also come up against the sort of hirers who must have been the ones who gave hirers a bad name in the first place: who despite having a crew of six send only one to operate the lock; who apparently hadn't been told that they wouldn't get very far if they opened the paddles at both ends; or who didn't think it necessary to leave the paddles and gates closed when they'd gone through. As far as helping other crews, I usually wander up with my windlass, make a friendly offer to help, and try to get a conversation going. If they want a hand, it helps everyone through quickly; if they don't, I'm happy to stand and watch. In general, though, it's fairly easy to see who has a clue and who doesn't. If some boaters choose not to see and prefer to carry on with a superior attitude, I think it's generally them who are missing out.

The current (January) edition of Canal Boat has a Llangollen crusing guide, which includes a list of the pubs etc along the route. Might be worth getting a copy.

Just been looking at the website, and noticed that the only thing they could think of to say about the Inland Waterways feature is that reed beds are being grown especially by Chelsea Flower Show gold medallists! Doesn't really bode well, does it?

Have to confess that I hadn't even noticed that blogs were now available! However, I've got a couple of night shifts coming up this week, so I'll read them then. Heard the chief exec of Google quoted in the summer as saying that of the billions of blogs on the interenet, 95 per cent have only one reader -- and that's the person who wrote it!

That's right. We were there earlier this year and had expected to have to use the same sort of key as on the BCN, but the normal BW Yale key was what's required. We also saw a BW employee, who stressed the importance of making sure that we locked each lock after us, because people draining pounds is a big problem.

You might want to write back and tell him that being an opposition spokesman is no bar to signing an EDM. One of the new BW ones for this session is proposed by Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Environment Secretary.

This is true for the government, but not for opposition front bench spokesmen. In fact, one of the EDM's is proposed by Peter Ainsworth, who's the Shadow Environment Secretary.

I hear that tomorrow, narrowboats are to be named as an official British icon. 21 new icons are being named, bringing the total number to 74. The new ones also include Westminster Abbey, English weather, and Sergeant Pepper. They're all listed on a website, www.icons.org.uk Timothy West is quoted in support of narrowboats: "Sailing the canals is a great way to see - and at 4mph, to stretch - the countryside"