john6767

With the current closures it looks like we will be going a longer way round from Birmingham to Fradley Junction. So not having been the Stourbridge Canal route off the BCN before, are there any recommended overnight stopping points on the Stourbridge, or would the recommendation be to go from Merry Hill to the Staffs and Worcester in one go?

Will be interesting what they actually do, for example will they track you location, which I have found quite useful in the e-canalmap when on rivers like the Severn where there are few features to identity your location. Not as useful on a canal where you normally know where you are from the regular bridges etc. If it did that then I think it is competing with e-canalmap

The issue here presumably is that the individual is saying is saying he represents CRT and is asking for money. You do get various unofficial individuals who turn up and locks and help work them, and I presume CRT has no issue with them. Not sure it is easy to volunteer though, my son who is home for the summer from Uni has tried and faied to get a job for the summer, so he applied to be a volunteer lock keeper but there in no H&S inductions until September, so he can't do it.

Latest Update, not good. 29 Jul 2013 - 09 Aug 2013 Associated Regional Office: West Midlands Waterways UPDATE (31 July 2013): The engineering survey has confirmed that there is a leak in the canal bed. Repairs are now being carried out, requiring a towpath closure between Hansons Bridge and Forge Lane Bridge. A diversion is in place, using the adjacent A38 footpath. Navigation will be re-opened by 4pm on Friday 9th August.

Thanks.

It may well do. But in the case quoted here at Snarestone the sign says "One way traffic", which seems to correctly describe the method of operation of a tunnel where boats can not pass. I believe that Braunston for example says "Two way working", the same as the ones on the Llangollen, but clearly their mode of operation is fundamentally different. Out of interest, as I have never come across one, what does a tunnel with time slots show as the method of operation?

I wasn't dreaming it then! So does it actually mean something else or are the signs just wrong?

Thanks for asking the question, it's got me thinking how we could go to this! To be honest in the few events I have been to, not seen one that asks for the actual insurance details, but you do always confirm by signing the form that you have the requisite third part insurance. They are just covering themselves I guess. I could not find a deadline for entries on the form, do you know what it is?

Actually looking at the entrance prices it is very expensive, £15 per adult on the Sunday! So given the £30 is for up to 4 passes for the weekend, I guess its a good deal compared to the regular admission. I did not know about this event and am a bit tempted, apart from the fact I will be out of holidays by then.

I would have thought that as with other festivals etc they require a certain level of third part insurance to be held by boat owners as part of the terms of attending. So perhaps the insurance details to just to make people think about it a bit. Looking on their web site, the form is just a pdf for you to print out and post to them. From the terms on that form "Floating Space Exhibitors and all boat entries must hold third party insurance to the minimum of one million pounds (£1,000,000)" Which is the minimum level you will have anyway for a CRT licence.

I could be wrong here but I have also seem tunnels where it says "two way working", where they are not wide enough for 2 boats to pass. On the Llangollen perhaps? I was left thinking that perhaps the phrase meant other than the ability for 2 boats to pass.

It is not good news From 29/07/2013 until further notice UPDATE (29 July 2013): We are having to de-water the pound and carry out a fish rescue in order to ascertain whether there is a leak from the canal bed. Once the source of the leak has been determined we will be able to advise regarding the repairs required and the length of time this will take. It is expected that a further update will be available Wednesday afternoon.

You can top the up with 1GB or 3GB etc when the initial allowance runs out, but of course you are not going to do that, you just throw that SIM away and put in a new one from Amazon/Ebay with the initial 1GB or 3GB as that is much cheaper than topping them up. You do not need to bother registering the SIM either as you don't need to top it up.

To be fair that is the general Twitter account from CRT, so expect general stuff. There are more specific ones such as "CRT Customer Service" and "CRT WEST MIDLANDS" who have tweeted this. The issue I have is really that none of this info got out until Monday morning.

Also looking closely at this. Due to go through this coming Saturday, and will be positioning the boat in preparation one evening in the week, so will need to make a decision in the next couple of days. What with this, and the rain causing potential river issues. our plans may change drastically. It is on the stoppage web site now, but it does not say any more than is already known.

Only done it once (North to South), but I really did not think it was a big deal at all. Now that the towpath has been removed the tunnel is very wide, and there is only a relatively short section that is low, and even that is not that low. The tunnel keeper will explain the process and give you a leaflet that explains for example what to do in the case of breakdown.

If I were designing a stoppage app the primary purpose would be to report on existing stoppages, and use a map as well as search by waterway name as the current one does. The technology is all there, and that to me would be very useful. Of course it would still be flawed if the stoppage database is not be up-to-date, as it seems with the Minworth stoppage this weekend just gone. Perhaps CRT also need and internal app to allow those on the ground to easily update the stoppage database outside office hours. It is a natural progression to allow the reporting of issues by registered users in a stoppage app, that is going to be particularly useful out of hours I would have thought. The current 0800 number to a call centre does not seem to always work well. Also I do find it annoying that they will not publish the regular number behind the 0800 one, forcing those reporting issues, who are inevitably on a mobile phone, to pay for the call.

Actually if you are looking at the thread on a phone as I was yesterday, then you only see about half of the title so you would not have the info on what the engine type was. Similarly you do not see the tags on a phone. So it is best to make certain the all the relevant info is in the OP, and not just in the title.

The real point here is not so much who's decision it is, or who physically closes the gate, but that the navigation has been closed and you would expect something on CRT's stoppages. The issue I think is more to do with this being a weekend and the stoppages don't seem to get updated at the weekend, which seems quite a poor process.

The must not be much news then, the app is hardly ground breaking stuff.

The coverage seems to be very concentrated in certain areas, perhaps reflecting the interests of the authors. The K&A seems to be particularly well represented, whilst Birmingham is not.

Whilst some of the info may not be in 100% the app is quite nice I think. I like the way it says "It looks like you are near: ......" and provides a link to the nearest location in the app. The list of locations and all the basic text for the locations is embedded in the app, try running it with your phone in airplane mode and you can see that. The main map (Google I guess) and the PDF files with the location maps (the same ones that are available on the web) are linked to the internet though. So updating the basic text requires an app update. They have already done one update to it since I downloaded it after CRT promoted it on Twitter. An app for reporting issues would be great.

I find that quite hard to see that under normal circumstances an overdue oil change would cause overheating. The obvious first questions seem to be; . What date was the oil last changed? . How many hours has the engine done since the last oil change? . What type of engine is this? . Has it overheated before, and if so what cured it?

I also don't think you will find non-time limited ones, certainly not from Three that I assume those are from. To me the 3GB for 3 months are a good deal for irregular light use, at £12 that is £48 per year, less than £1 per week, with luck you may get them at nearer £10.