waspexile

Yes, thats exactly right. I havent checked my memory with the written word but if I remember right it was William the Conq who brought over the 2 Lions, which were the House of Normandy arms. One of the Plantagenets (Henry II?) used the Lion as a coat of arms for the first time. Richard I (Absentee landlord!) started using 3 Lions at some stage for reasons that are unclear. I havent double checked this in a book so apologies if anyone pounces on an error.

Here here I say to that. And the "Three Lions" coat of arms as well. Two of the Lions have their origin in Normandy (which makes them Viking, Norman or French depending on how far you want to go back). The third lion is a later "bolt-on" to use a modern phrase. To use any symbol anywhere (and Europe in particular) without understanding its roots is boneheaded and you end up looking foolish if the temptation arises to spout off about it or to use it for your own ends.......

Yep, i'd go along with that. Thats very unlucky getting two incidents like that on the same day. Having said that, nearly twenty years ago, in a moment of madness two of us carrying windlasses and a foul mood chased two youths in their early teens down the towpath in Manchester after stones were thrown at the boat. They had omitted to look over the other side of the bridge where we were sat on the lock! We chased them for nearly a quarter of a mile and caught up with them. The look of terror on their face as my 6'6" friend waved the windlass about, with suggestions about where he would stick it, as he castigated them was not something that either of us are particularly proud about now, but it seemed to do the job at the time. Not something I'd do now. The other comment made on this thread about the weather is well made. These idiots also tend to be lazy and always follow the path of least resistance. Hence if your are travelling, or moored, in pouring rain I would say you are much less likely to get bother. A friend of mine used to be a plod in the Met and made the very lucid observation that it is extremely rare to see a riot or major disturbance in the pouring rain.

A few years ago we were having a cup of tea moored up between North Parade Bridge and Pulteney Weir. The moorings were pretty much all taken up, in fact another boat tied up to us late the previous evening. Midday approached and a stream of tourists (mostly American) strolled up and down the towpath. We had the usual questions (which are fair enough I guess) Can you live on it? How fast can it go? But the best one was (while pointing at the weir) "Are you waiting for the waterfall to stop before you can go any further?" Now THAT I would like to see!

A very scarey episode. After 25 hire holidays we still make sure that 3 of us listen to the briefing properly. After all if you haven't been anywhere near a narrowboat for a year its like everything else (cycling, sking, driving, swimming) you've got to get back in the groove. Maybe a few people like me have thought "there but for the grace of god....etc etc" after reading this post. The standard of the hire company briefing varies a lot between companies but in my experience thats more to do with the person doing it than the amount of information on offer. Some people are good with people and others......well, should carry on performing mechanical miracles with the boats. The best one we had (cant remember where) was years ago. Once the chap doing the handover realised we had been on several trips the briefing became more of an question and answer session. He asked us questions about cills, paddles, gates, windlasses, mooring, speeds and we gave the answers. If we got it wrong he then reminded us of the correct details. One of our party is a VOSA inspector and another an engineer so the in depth discussion around the intricate details of the engine and its wiring went a bit over my head! I'd agree with all of RichardH comments and particularly that some people will lie when they say they have not had any instruction for various reasons: They didnt listen; they are embarassed that they have screwed up; they are stupendously arrogant; they are thick. Safety signs are a thorny subject anywhere and only any use if people are prepared to read them. If they dont read warning signs at home, or on the road, or at football grounds etc, I'm afraid they sure as hell wont do it on holiday.

I agree! Its the risk thats increased, not that it WILL happen. We've been unhitched and set adrift two miles from the nearest town (drunk on a bike) and had stones thrown from the top of a tunnel. But as a hirer I can say we have had four "dodgy" incidents in about fifteen holidays. I reckon thats better than most other types of holiday.

I've moored in Coventry basin three times over the years, the last time was two years ago. The second time we were there a similar thing happened. It just so happened we were an all male party as the two ladies had gone back to work on the wednesday. The drunken youth (no doubt after two pints of cider) climbed on the boat around 2am. When 1,2,3,4,5,6, and the 7th male emerged from the boat looking grumpy he beat a hasty retreat. Not a pleasant occurence I am sure if you are a family group. Its difficult to know how to stamp this out. You can turn the basin into a barbed wire enclave I guess, or employ a security guard (they can sometimes attract trouble merely by being there) The chances of trouble happening in a city are higher, and this sort of thing could happen in any city centre I guess. No doubt the plod were busy in the city centre dealing with fights etc. I once worked as a manager in the lesuire industry in a city. One example of a Friday night would be an occasion when a customer was badly verbally abused by a group of youths, who I threw out and advised the Security staff who patrolled the complex. This was at 11.30pm. The customer demanded I called the police, which I knew would be of little value, but I called them anyway. They asked if anyone had been hurt/anything been stolen or damaged. No, was the answer. The control centre advised me that we were 25th in the lists of priorities. To be fair, they did actually turn up at around 1am when we were on our way home. They had clearly had a difficult night in town. In my experience if its chucking it down with rain they are more likely to head for the nearest kebab house. Ever seen a riot on TV in the pouring rain? Not much help for your experience I know. As has been said Coventry basin is quiet and in the great scheme of things I doubt the security of overnight moorers figures any higher than anyone else in the city. Certainly it should be reported to BW (and the hire company if applicable). If its nots reported - it doesnt exist!

Who knows. maybe thats the plan. Split up BW somehow into areas, or the hideously complicated railway model, give a massive one-off sweetener and then every year give a grant but amounting to only say 20% of the current expenditure, which relates to various factors maybe such as; The amount of "improvements" undertaken (matched investment) Miles cruised in your area. Amount of boats lived on. Number of locks per mile etc etc etc I'm sure there are 100s of factors everyone could think of. Who would get involved with such a sell-off? National Trust? Hoseasons? Holiday Park companies? Consortium of hiring companies? Stelios? Easy Canal here we come!!!! I'm sure you folks have had all these conversations before but it sounds like its going to big on the agenda soon. Or maybe nobody wants it

Oh yes, as all the other replies have said it passes very quickly normally. I've done loads of one week trips so i dont notice it any more. There is one friend in our group however who still feels very odd for a couple of days afterwards and is very reluctant to drive home from the holiday, he also gets very seasick on the IOW ferry so i guess there is something not right between his eyes and his ears!

This is not a critisicm of this post in particular but I do get fed up of comments like this. In general elections the turnout is around 75%. If the missing 25% came out and voted for an odd local candidate the overall result could be significantly different. If EVERYONE who had a view like those above voted for a candidate in their own area who wasnt in the big parties, it REALLY would make a massive difference. Local elections the turnout is anything from 40% down to around 20% - so much easier to influence the result if people REALLY wanted to put their mind to it. If you dont like something, ultimately you can do something about it by standing for a position. Its easy to stand outside and shout and throw stones. it requires a lot more effort to actually do something about it. Isnt there an independant MP near Kiddy who got voted in as an MP on the ticket of keeping the local hospital open?. Now that really is doing something about it. Whats that quote? "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." How true. Soapbox away now.

Oh right! Oops I stand corrected, I've just been having a look, there are loads of these bods flying around. Staffs County Council have the County Rangers; http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/environmen...luntaryWardens/ and you can sign up to be a VOLUNTARY warden. (more likely to be our candidate on the towpath??) Why would the County Ranger have any reason to be on the towpath of the canal? Unless he lives on a boat? And why would have a visvest that says "Warden" when he's a Ranger ? And it looks like the District councils ALSO may have a Countryside Ranger (or something similar). I guess it depends on the Distrct Council but here is Lichfields. http://www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/site/scripts...p?serviceID=158 Reading this, these folk just stick to the council countryside areas. As my niece would say, "this bloke sounds like a tool"

Hi, I have just joined the forum after a few weeks reading the board and thought I'd plunge in here. I am strictly a narrowboat holidayer (20 people reach for the smelling salts ). But I am part of a group of around 8 that has changed over the years but been on a canal hol at least once a year since around 1983, so I've seen a few changes and a fair bit of the canal system, and a lot of great people and a few appalling ones. Anyway, on the subject of this berk on the towpath, these Wardens seem to pop up all over the place. Fortunately my own local district council just stick to parking tickets with these people. Curiously I was just looking on the Tamworth BC website as I am due to visit a friend soon and there is a Word document on their website that gives the duties of these individuals. http://www.tamworth.gov.uk/Docs/STREET_WAR...E_AND_REMIT.doc All I'd say is that if these people are employed and they have no history of dealing with the public and/or no anticipation of having their performance/usefulness managed or challenged then they will be worse than useless. As someone has said, what the hell are they doing challenging someone on the canal for their details? You should ask them for their name and role and report them to the council. Surely they would have been better off just approaching you at a stroll after you had moored up and said "Hi, I'm Fred Bloggs, a Street Warden, good afternoon................" or is that just me