Maffi

8 out of the nine were complete. The two found recently were also complete. The one I found in Banbury not far from the disposal point was the one that was a box only. There was one other under the bridge at Barby but it was not safe to move so I called CRT and left it to them.

? The bridge is still out of balance!

It is actually fixed. Took a few minutes to adjust a valve somewhere and Hey Presto! done. Easy up easy down.

OK so maybe if one of the Moderators could open the post I could edit it to read "Plastic toilet unit".

The contractors arrived today and fixed the bridge!

It is. If a lot of people call a porta-potty type 'commode' an elsan it becomes an accepted 'thing'. Such a thing only needs to become a written about thing in publishing and it will be considered for inclusion in the Oxford dictionary.

No I call my floor cleaner a mop! ?

Elsan is a generic term like hoover. Point of order Jerra elsan is used as a generic term.

No! The places I find them are intentional dumping. They usually have the top section on too!

DO you mean Moi!

Some of you here will be aware that I make a point of removing rubbish from the canal. I'm no hero, no saint, no one special, I just have a lot of time on my hands. I am currently training my Crew Mate to do likewise. In the 10 years I have been doing this I have removed, among other things, 9 Elsans, all but one full! I lifted one from within 20 yards of the elsan point and rubbish disposal point in Banbury. Why? Whilst I was away last month I found another two! One at the bottom of the steps at Bridge 18 on the GU and one on the farmers side of the hedge at at Lock 11 on the Buckby flight. What is is about some people who replace their cassettes, that they can't be bothered to take the old one to a disposal point rather than just dump it on the towpath/hedge?

Picking up litter doesn't give me any special rights. In the same way you dont have any special rights either. I am still contemplating talking to the police about your threats and stalking! PS its about 14 tons so far!

I'm glad you admit it at last!? Damn is he trying to steal my Crown??

That's odd I heard that 'he' was being a bit 'norty' in his posts.

Update: CRT came yesterday. They agree it is too hard to operate the bridge. They will suggest that the contractor be called in to rectify.

It was taken to Cropredy to be taken out. That was the canoe club only place they could get a crane into lift it!

But this has only been in the last couple of years. Prior to that it was manual and single handers had to negotiate it from the tow path using a 9 foot boat boat hook.

I wasn't being rude I am just a straight talker. Neither am I incorrect. Up until just recently the Lift bridge at the Mill in Heyford was a manual lift bridge and operated from the other side, had it been the other way around to 'make it easier to operate from the towpath side how would the horses have got over the beams? I fail to see how it can be a pain in the A... when you signed up for it! The canal is what it is. Whoopee so you are a man of property! What do you want a medal? No the post was not about the bridge operating set up it was a plea for people to complain to CRT that it was hard to operate. No they haven't. They electrified it and put the control console on the tow path side, via a conduit that goes over the canal.

That is not Cropredy Lock. And why would you believe the DM when they keep calling it a barge?

This was a Kate boat, they do have rails? In fact HARRY especially had rails. It is possible that whilst sitting on the rail in reverse the boat hit the cill and the tiller swung over and knocked her off, hitting her head on the way down. Ergo never stand or sit in the arc of the tiller!

No an accident is something that is unavoidable despite all best practice. Unintentional is a bit like my mooring. I am sure people don't want to hit me, but I know they will, however it is avoidable if passing boats were to adhere to boating convention and moor properly when using the bridge instead of hovering, over which they have virtually no control. Story?

The "Tooley's Barge" actually belongs to The Oxford Canal Trust. It is on the 'official' Tooley's wharf mooring. Had you come two weeks later I would have been moored on the outside of that Tooley's Barge and that is also an official mooring! The canals were not designed for single handers. The bridge landing is on the correct side. Were the bridge the other way around how the fecking hell would you get a horse over the beams. All lift and swing bridges are that way round for the same reason (with the exception of bridges like Thrupp where the towpath changes sides. You may have missed the bollard on the operating side that proper boaters use to access the workings. Yes it may be a pain in the A..., but you chose to be a single hander. No one forced you. If you ain't up to it get a house!

Be my guest come down and try it now since they 'fixed' it!

Please come up again and try for yourself. From my vantage point I can see everyone who opens it. Most struggle. It does have its moments, a13 year old girl today seemed to have no trouble, but she had some padding. The next several people who came along really struggled. One even said the bridged is wedged. Its partly to do with the fact that the balance is wrong. Whilst the contractors were 'fixing' it, they were manually opening the bridge, the hydraulics having been removed, it took three grown men hanging on those beams to open it! The one at Thrupp which is probably bigger could be done with one hand on a dry day before it was mechanized.

That was the only death on that stretch in the last 9/10 years. And accident happen when all reasonable precautions are taken and still something goes wrong. They are generally unavoidable. Most "accidents" incidents and are avoidable. In this case (Cowroast) the driver of the boat said he knew he was wrong. Ergo not an accident but an incident.