Michele

Well that's what it said on the side.......unless.......maybe they've mastered teleportation or maybe there's more than one.............? Entering the Twilight zone? keeping up with you Alan.........eeeerrrrr, no! All I know is that I saw two boats called Keeping up in Brum today and one had the Cheshire Jones' on it. Don't confuse me any more, please! Seems to me there's far too many Jones' 'Keeping Up' for me to keep up!!

We passed you this morning in Brum, but very confused (which aye difficult to be honest!) when we saw your boat and another 'Keeping up' (with the Cheshire Jones') within a few meters of each other! Any relation? Did look for anyone aboard as we passed - but no sign of life. Michele

These have now found a new home.

I have 15 horse brasses given to me by my Dad and wondered if anyone who collects them might want them?

It was great to meet you and your lovely family. Hope you had a peaceful night and a good day travelling towards Brum - you certainly have the weather for it. Did you encounter the Netherton Tunnel ghost? According to my friend, a policeman was murdered in there and his ghost haunts the area! She neglected to tell us that before we walked through it - probably a good idea really! Keep us posted on Melaleuca's progress! Michele & Mark

Thanks for all your posts, and Dor thanks for the PM - some great info there.

Oh well, it was just an idea my fella and I were discussing on our evening stroll up the towpath......thinking about it, it comes as no surprise that you get charged if it's at all possible to! Back to the drawing board!

see post no. 3

I thought more along the lines of several boats breasted up so that there was no access to use the boats whilst they are stored but could be bought out onto a proper marina jetty when needed, making it cheaper whilst not in use.

Hope your bike riding friends have gone home? We live in Stourbridge. What time are you planning to get to Merry Hill tomorrow? Could come and help you up the Delph locks if it's after 4ish? Let me know? Michele

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as narrowboat storage? As in, if we lived abroad for a few months of each year, is there somewhere we could securely store our boat at a reduced fee rather than paying expensive marina fees all year? They do this on some caravan sites - where the van is stored in a different field and the site owner brings it out onto a proper pitch when the owner wants to come and use it- maing it cheaper than leaving it on a pitch all year round. thanks.

Wow...what a beautiful picture....thanks for sharing that!

I saw a boat a couple of weeks back whose tiller folded in half to allow movement on the stern whilst in the lock. Thought it was a great idea. Any thoughts to the contrary...or otherwise?

Thank you all for your replies....much food for thought! I have looked at the First Mate guides website before and wondered how good they are - I will look again with your recommendation in mind - Lady Muck. I'd rather not use space ( or power!) for a washing machine/dryer if I can at all help it!

Hi all Can you tell me please, how many of you live-aboards have washing machines and tumble dryers on board? I am particularly interested in those of you who do not live in a marina (with these facilities on demand) and especially continuous cruisers. If you do not have laundry facilities on board, how easy/difficult do you find it to find the facilities ashore, especially not knowing the area (CCers)? We plan to CC (eventually) and want to guage whether a washing machine/dryer is an essential piece of kit or not. thanks Michele

Where is 'local' for you? I'm in Stourbridge (Midlands/Worcestershire border). The only problem I could see with your idea would be the distances between us all. Any ideas to overcome this?

Yes, I have stopped using my local freecycle as, unfortunately, there are a lot of rude people on there and I often felt that certain people were asking for things only to sell them on....which isn't the point!

I have just spoken to my neighbour who is a lock keeper at the Bratch and he knew all about this and said that they are keeping watch for her.