Constant cruising

[tree monkey]

1 minute ago, Paul C said:

Side note: MI5 do actually track (and store) everyone, even if you've done nothing wrong, no court order etc etc.....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48597111

You have the £5000 option then!

Daft question tbh, I object to tracking devices in my personal life ( and working life as well but that ship has sailed) so the only option is to pay up.

6 minutes ago, Jerra said:

So if there was a crime would you object to evidence gathering and being interviewed because you happened to be in the area.   If not what is the difference between a CCTV showing you were there and me as a cafe owner  saying "Oh yes I saw "tree Monkey" walking past at that time"?

No obviously not but happy to help a police enquiry if needed, but again it's the you are a good boy so why object argument,  where does it stop?

[Paul C]

2 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Daft question tbh, I object to tracking devices in my personal life ( and working life as well but that ship has sailed) so the only option is to pay up.

Correct (AIUI), there are 2 options:

 

1) Pay £5000

2) Pay £5000, be tracked, get/earn the discount, you pay net £2000

(of course, the figures are examples not actual ones)

 

There is no third option. Unless mayalld wants to add a third option to his idea.

[tree monkey]

Just now, Paul C said:

Correct (AIUI), there are 2 options:

 

1) Pay £5000

2) Pay £5000, be tracked, get/earn the discount, you pay net £2000

(of course, the figures are examples not actual ones)

 

There is no third option. Unless mayalld wants to add a third option to his idea.

3rd option is leave the system as it is because it largely works, ok there are some issues over logging mistakes and London but it basically does work.

People are trying to invent an intrusive technical solution for no reason

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, tree monkey said:

3rd option is leave the system as it is because it largely works, ok there are some issues over logging mistakes and London but it basically does work.

People are trying to invent an intrusive technical solution for no reason

Maybe they need a TreeMonkey to help them out.

 

(They could always close off the London waterways - make them into culverts and build houses on the top of them)

[Captain Pegg]

41 minutes ago, Paul C said:

Just for clarity, where is it? And where is "Birmingham"?

I was referring to the boundaries of the city itself rather than the BCN which I think is a distinction that is sometimes missed. In the case of canals those within Birmingham are loosely inside an area bounded by Wast Hill Tunnel, Shirley drawbridge, Olton, Curdworth, Rushall Junction and Smethwick Jn.

 

The point being that the likely draw into the area would be the commercial centre of the region which is Birmingham itself and is located on the very south west edge of the BCN. Hence it would take a very large increase of boats to bring more life to places like Spon Lane Junction (which is in West Bromwich in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell). I suspect the Worcs & Bham down to Kings Norton would bear the brunt of any increase initially.

 

The oft-quoted (and true) fact about Birmingham having more canals than Venice relates to those areas listed above and not to the BCN.

 

JP

[Paul C]

Ok no worries, I vaguely remember locking up the Wolverhampton 21 and mooring, and I was within walking distance of Birmingham Central Railway Station. 

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, Paul C said:

Ok no worries, I vaguely remember locking up the Wolverhampton 21 and mooring, and I was within walking distance of Birmingham Central Railway Station. 

Depends how far you like to walk!  It's about 14 miles from the top of the 21 to Birmingham New Street/Grand Central.

 

Wolverhampton station is only a few yards away though, but you have to go round and up a few hundred yards.

 

 

[MtB]

The problem with tracking us around is not now, it is should a future, less benign govt get into power. Them having historic records showing exactly everywhere you have been, and when,  since about 2010 would be jolly handy in suppressing anyone suspected of not toeing the party line. 

 

[MtB]

And never mind everything we have written on the internet forums, FB, twitter etc. All sitting there for ever to be picked over by the secret police looking for evidence of your lack of faith.

 

[TheBiscuits]

43 minutes ago, Paul C said:

Ok no worries, I vaguely remember locking up the Wolverhampton 21 and mooring, and I was within walking distance of Birmingham Central Railway Station. 

Unless you are mixing up the Wolverhampton 21 with Aston and Farmer's Bridge flights, in which case you'd be a bit less than a mile from New Street.

[Paul C]

No, I muddled up the stations - I was thinking of Wolverhampton station.

[Jerra]

1 hour ago, tree monkey said:

No obviously not but happy to help a police enquiry if needed, but again it's the you are a good boy so why object argument,  where does it stop?

I never mentioned anything about being a good boy.  I was merely trying to clear up in my mind if and why you would object to one form of evidence gathering and not to another.

[tree monkey]

2 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I never mentioned anything about being a good boy.  I was merely trying to clear up in my mind if and why you would object to one form of evidence gathering and not to another.

Personally I object to it all but I understand why it's used and have accept it, I see no need for it to track my boat movements, as I've mentioned it's intrusive and unnecessary.

 

I understand I seem to be in the minority here

[The Welsh Cruiser]

The good thing about surveillance is the ability to track criminals, and perhaps deter potential criminals. The bad thing is that it's a negative as regards people's quality of life, the feeling of being watched, even if you've done nothing wrong, isn't a good one.

 

There's a balance to be struck somewhere, what that balance is will be a matter of opinion.

 

My opinion is that there's too much surveillance.

 

  

[Captain Fizz]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And never mind everything we have written on the internet forums, FB, twitter etc. All sitting there for ever to be picked over by the secret police looking for evidence of your lack of faith.

 

you're doomed Mike expect imminent arrest!!

[matty40s]

2 hours ago, Jerra said:

   If not what is the difference between a CCTV showing you were there and me as a cafe owner  saying "Oh yes I saw "tree Monkey" walking past at that time"?

That's just vindictive because he might not have been thirsty or hungry when he passed your cafe so could be construed as biased evidence in court.

 

I'm with TM on this one. The reason I love the canals is the lack of being part of the "MACHINE".

We dont get junkmail, can take the pi££ out of Energycompany and Sky salespeople who tell us life will be better with them, can move 1/2 a mile from the mooring and people dont know where you are, enjoy views and fresh air people pay thousands for, endure the harshest winters wearing shorts and t shirts with the doors open, etc etc etc.

The worrying thing about all these lock limited opening times is 'has CRT got a van with WELLBEING on it CCTV ing lock users at certain flights trying to ascertain time and motion studies for future use. .....

Of course not, it's a chariteèeee.

[matty40s]

37 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Personally I object to it all but I understand why it's used and have accept it, I see no need for it to track my boat movements, as I've mentioned it's intrusive and unnecessary.

 

I understand I seem to be in the minority here

I hardly think a 1/4 mile reverse to the water point and an hour later a forward movement back to the same place every 9.2 days constitutes a national emergency and cause for MI6 involvement.(figures taken from FOI request).

?

[tree monkey]

Just now, matty40s said:

I hardly think a 1/4 mile reverse to the water point and an hour later a forward movement back to the same place every 9.2 days constitutes a national emergency and cause for MI6 involvement.(figures taken from FOI request).

?

Pah.

[Graham Davis]

3 hours ago, Paul C said:

 

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by Graham Davis

[matty40s]

40 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

 

Best thing you've said all year Graham

[Dave123]

4 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Well Spon Lane isn’t in Birmingham for starters. If there were more liveaboards in Birmingham itself they would likely line the towpaths from University to Smethwick Jn. Those areas have a considerable amount of towpath traffic and in the case of the latter is one of the few places on the network you can up the revs and really move without the expectation of having to slow down a couple of minutes later. So I’m not really sure for who it would improve the canal.

 

How does the linear mooring in London combine with towpath traffic? Is there conflict and/or is towpath traffic constrained?

 

What goes on in Birmingham currently is broadly sustainable. There are a number of liveaboards who move about, often between recognised spots, with some seeming to take winter moorings. I will sometimes see a boat I recognise as a ‘Birmingham’ liveaboard a little further afield. There are also of course a number of residential mooring sites, whether all of these are full I don’t know but I think they are close if not absolutely full.

 

If there gets to be many more boats in an unregulated fashion the situation will probably deteriorate for most of Birmingham’s current canal users. I would hate to see lines of moored boats of the main routes through Birmingham itself. There is however a lot of space elsewhere on the BCN that would benefit from more boats.

 

JP

Sorry! I should have said BCN and the general west midlands area. 

And having moored boats improves the canal 'experience' for everyone except boaters who want to 'open the throttle'. I'd suggest a jaunt down the Severn or another big river for doing that.

CRTs own Twitter survey recently found looking at boats to be the number one reason the general public visit a canal.

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And never mind everything we have written on the internet forums, FB, twitter etc. All sitting there for ever to be picked over by the secret police looking for evidence of your lack of faith.

 

Don't forget they have your voting records as well. Now you never voted Communist did you?

[Captain Pegg]

2 hours ago, Dave123 said:

Sorry! I should have said BCN and the general west midlands area. 

And having moored boats improves the canal 'experience' for everyone except boaters who want to 'open the throttle'. I'd suggest a jaunt down the Severn or another big river for doing that.

CRTs own Twitter survey recently found looking at boats to be the number one reason the general public visit a canal.

That’s OK in places the public might reasonably visit. I have no problem with moored boats as I like to look at boats too, whether boating or on foot. So to boat into Birmingham past groups of moored boats at Kings Norton, Bournville and The Vale is fine. I am sure another site wouldn’t present a problem but there needs to be the ability to cruise normally between them. The canal is primarily for navigation not mooring or gongoozling. My fear for Birmingham is that it will end up being a continuous line of moored boats from University to Soho i.e. within a couple of miles either side of the city centre. To me that will not be an improvement over the current situation. There are usually plenty of moored boats of all styles in Birmingham city centre to satisfy visitors.

 

I do agree that a mooring site at Spon Lane could be advantageous - and it has good transport links - but I suspect one reason there are relatively few liveaboard boats moored on the towpath in the Black Country is that property is not expensive. I have a feeling though that the BCN has quite a high proportion of long standing liveaboards at established residential sites. The canal is an integral part of the fabric so it’s a genuine lifestyle thing not an affordable housing solution. I make a point of visiting such places.

 

I’ve no great interest in cruising the Severn. I have a narrow boat because I was brought up on the narrow canals of the Midlands and that’s where I want to cruise, at normal speed.

 

JP

Edited June 27, 2019 by Captain Pegg

[Rob-M]

The Chance Glass Works restoration is supposed to include a small basin for moorings so that will get some boats mooring not that far from Spon Lane.

[Captain Pegg]

19 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

The Chance Glass Works restoration is supposed to include a small basin for moorings so that will get some boats mooring not that far from Spon Lane.

In a very literal sense they’ll be nearer to Spon Lane than you probably realise ?