Mick and Maggie

Has any of the site mods written to narrowboat world to ask for NBW to 'do the forum a favour' Requesting NBW to remove the item that might be causing the forum owner some embarrasment. I'm sure that would be a good place to start. I'm also sure that the opinions of those with an axe to grind with regard to NBW should not stand in the way of getting things sorting out for the forums benefit.

Edited to remove duplicated posting.

The EA have their own critics on the inside. Here is a whistlblower site that takes the lid off. http://www.insidetheenvironmentagency.co.uk/

I can't agree with you on this Nick. I don't think that Nigel finds his intelligence, knowledge and ability to articulate the message a 'difficulty' at all. Your comment comes across like you are wanting Nigel to 'dumb down' the text. But why would you want him to do that? How on earth can Nigel be abusing anyone? Is this because you think other people on here can't appreciate or are not smart enough to make up their own mind - one way or another. Are we incapable of understanding an issue that Nigel holds to be an irrefutable truth. Mainly because he explains in well considered detail the whole of the issue. That the issue is presented complete with supporting information - articulated as he understands it to be. I must admit I find Nigel's arguments to be quite compelling. Green one!

The emergency services have a long tradition of trying to respond to incidents without putting anyone at risk. Now just imagine that the houseboat that was swamped had someone aboard, who subsequently drowned as a result. So the question is are the vessels 'fit for purpose'? A vessel might have intrinsic design flaws. RORO was one such design and a terrible price was paid. As you say, you're no expert, but you don't let that get in the way of having a rant.

How about this.... Do you think it has a chance of being published?

At the time I even filled in and posted off a near miss report. Though it's been a while since I last passed through the lock and the issue might have been rectified by now. But going back to the OP by Capt Col - and his comments - Maybe we are about to see a significant change for the better. This might be part of the 'new broom' being used by Richard Parry to improve customer perception. Some positive comment about the trust is welcome even if it does come from contrasting and comparing how things were to how thing are now. I sure hope so.

I reported a bad lock paddle 'a balance weight dropped off' while it was being operated by a lady. The sudden change in the weight knocked her off balance and into the lock. I reported it as a near miss. Two years later the very next next time we passed through the paddle was still in the same condition. It's good to see that such issues are being picked up on in a reasonable time frame. Hopefully the bad old days have gone and reporting such issues will be worthwhile again.

Price them off the waterways. That should limit complaints. Whoops! they have already started doing that....

There seem to be problems within the EA.... Have a look at the whistle blower here: http://www.insidetheenvironmentagency.co.uk/

When we are out on the boat, we seem to spend a certain amount of time planning for our next shopping expedition to the supermarket. We know that Tesco, ASDA and Morrisons all do 'home' deliveries. We have heard of ASDA doing deliveries to known locations such as canal bridges and moorings with road access. We would do our own expeditions if the supermarket is within striking distance. However, we would also be interested to hear of your experiences using any of the supermarket chains that do deliveries to your boat. Estimates of the quality of service, delivery charges, any particular limitations, any special conditions, wrong items delivered, unfulfilled orders and ease of ordering etc..

You mean the white elephant.... I remember going to have a look round... I thought it was ripe to crash and burn because it was almost devoid of anything of interest. (The centre for popular music in Sheffield was another such fiasco. Hundreds of thousands of projected visitors and no car parks.) The Earth Centre was a roller coaster ride of false starts, wild hopes and dashed plans. Well after justifying the initial 41.6 million investment with estimated target numbers of visitors that seemed unbelievable at the time. and were unbelievable in reality. Even after building a new rail station and platforms... err nobody came after the first flurry of visitors. It opened and closed until it eventually went bankrupt and shut, soon becoming derelict. Jeremy Clarkson did a TV program about the earth centre, that sealed its fate. £140,000,000 later, its a tip once more! There were houses for sale in Denaby at £1 each and no takers. We used to moor up and have a wander round the place. If you can imagine tumble-weed rolling around the asphalt bits and everything else being over grown. Doncaster Council was supposed to be spending £200,000 a year to maintain the site. Some business called Kingswood purchased it and it is being converted into some sort of outward bound / boot camp. There are a few people on site now. But as it was supposed to open last year... who knows what will happen next. Have a read at http://welovetheearthcentre.blogspot.co.uk/

Pete, I think you could well be right. I had completely forgotten about Conisborough Lock. I must have passed through it dozens of times in the late 50's early 60's. I remember thinking a few times as we passed that it looked like an old coal wharf behind what remains of the lock. Even then I never twigged, because it was close to Cadeby pit (my dad retired from Cadeby pit!) It had been completely erased from my memory. Well done... I'm enjoying a senior moment now.

Is Rotherham a Seaport Town is a film made in 1959 by Charles Chislett documenting a trip by barge along the Tinsley Canal and then by trip boat from Rotherham. The trip continues on along the River Don as far as the site of the Swinton flood lock. To watch the film Click Here The film starts on the canal quayside at Sheffield Basin now called the Victoria Quays. Several other boats and barges are shown, including one with ‘Hull’ on the side, moored under the Straddle Warehouse. There is a barge named ‘Good Luck’ with a teenage boy sitting on top of the canvas coverings. Someone might recognise the skipper or the teenager? This is a cut of a much longer film. 10:15 into the film clip there is a Mystery Lock, I do not recognise the lock and so the film at this point must be out of sequence. This one has a white house next to it, and the film shows the lock being opened and closed. There are a couple of other bits in the film out of the correct running order.

Carole Sampson has decided to cease publication of her extremely useful First Mate Guides, mainly because she is now based on the continent. However, she has made the Guides available for download in return for a donation to cover the costs of maintaining the site. The guides have been converted into PDF documents that you can print them or as in my case load onto my Kindle. I have always found the guides enormously useful, as they go into far more detail about shops and other facilities on the system than the conventional guides can possibly have space for. Print versions of the guides are available in some chandler emporiums. If you want a print version of the guides - I would get them now while they are still available. The downloads can be found here, please leave a donation to ensure that the website where the guides are hosted can continue to remain on-line. http://www.firstmateguides.co.uk/

We found moving the damper on our 'villager puffin' so that the draw to the chimney is at the back of the stove. Seems to keep the glass cleaner for longer. One of those scourers that look like metal turnings also works quite well for removing the sooty deposits.

Now that the side event has finished, and getting back to the original thread about leaving locks empty. Maybe if you suspect other boats might happen along later in the day, then leave the paddles open a crack so that it will take longer to empty down. Rather than paddle all the way up to drain the lock.

This sound like something that an android smartphone type application could be used to manage, including regular updates on a weekly basis. All hosted on Google play. Items such as pump outs costs and locations and price changes at various diesel locations could be included. Here are a few apps for boaters SmartPhone Apps TrolleyWise http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/off-my-trolley-again.html Boat Logger http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-9.html Post Office http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-10.html Bus Timetable http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-12.html Supermarket http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-10.html Knots http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-17.html Satellites http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-21.html UK Tides http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/smartphone-apps-for-boaters-22.html

The only effective way is trapping and despatching in a humane way. There are mink traps such as 'mink islands' which have been specially devised to live trap mink. We used traps that were placed in specially excavated holes and then baited. What we discovered was if we did not bait the traps. We would only catch mink rather than the occasional rats. Because the mink are inquisitive they would still enter the traps. Mink were already in the environment long before the saboteurs released additional animals. There are various dates between 1920 and 1950 where mink had been observed in the wild.

Immortalised for ever by the misnamed character of 'Ratty' in The Wind in the Willows. Somehow if a toad can drive a car. Why not a Water Vole with an outboard motor. On a slightly more serious note, I found this quote from Alastair Driver, Environment Agency national conservation manager and chairman of the UK water vole steering group. He said: 'Creating new habitat helps protect our native species, like water voles and otters, and helps tackle climate change. The Environment Agency has created nearly 5,000 hectares of wetland and river habitats in the last 10 years and we hope to double this in the next 10. Added to this, our rivers are at their healthiest for over 200 years, but control of the American mink is essential if water voles are to benefit from these healthier rivers and new habitats.' Everyone knows that leaving the mink uncontrolled, in a reintroduction, is in reality just providing water voles as a small snack for the mink.

The Water Vole Steering Group published more than a decade ago 'Without strategic mink control being carried out in combination with habitat enhancement, we will lose the water vole from the vast majority of the British countryside in our working lifetimes.' I hate to say it - but that is exactly what has come to pass. It's known that Otter numbers are on the increase naturally and through reintroduction. There is some crossover in habitat and food sources between the two species. I suspect that the Otter is a formidable opponent to the opportunistic Mink, but I suspect that its habitat pressure because both are territorial rather than being a predator that makes the difference. However, the mink continues to spread further and further north and the change in habitat is closer to its natural habitat range. Mink have been living and breeding in the wild since the 1930's. They have gained a real foothold since the 50's. Nationally there is very little in the way of effective control measures other than advice being offered. So its down to localised control to protect specific areas. Wild life sanctuaries with on-site wardens, river keepers and game such as Pheasant and the associated gamekeeper come to mind. There have been ideas floating around such as developing a virus similar to Myxomatosis, a disease that affects rabbits. I shudder at the thought of reverting to such drastic measures. Which I think is just as bad as some of the ideas such as introducing non native insects to control other alien species such as Japanese Knot Weed. Questions that still need answering include ‘How much control of mink numbers is needed to preserve biodiversity?’ and ‘How much control is actually possible and sustainable?' As well as 'what does it cost?’ Mick

The problem for the voles is that mink are more widespread than ever. I worked as a volunteer on a nature reserve for several years which had a small population of water voles. When mink started to turn up on site, the voles and large numbers of chicks were soon wiped out. We started trapping and we were getting 1 or 2 mink every day. The numbers started to drop after a while to 2 or 3 a month. Then a family of foxes moved in and soon afterwards a second family of foxes. The numbers of mink trapped fell further. The mink have to be constantly controlled for a period of time before re-introduction of voles. The pressure on the control of mink has to be kept up constantly. We knew we were winning when we stopped catching young mink and only trapped adults that were moving into the area. The chick mortality fell drastically, but the voles have never naturally recolonised. Mink will travel along any water course. They will happily cross open land. With no top predator to keep them in check trapping is the only way. Spending money on re-introducing voles and providing habitat without controlling mink is a waste of time.