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Do not drink and steer


max's son

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1 hour ago, hider said:

There used to be a reward paid for the recovery of a body from the water.

Perhaps the Police and Fire Services are claiming it for themselves...................

Thought that was only on the Thames

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Thought that was only on the Thames

Sure I have seen a cast plaque from one of the old canal companies to the effect that a £5 fee would be offered for recovering a body from the cut. Could be a spoof I suppose.

 

Perhaps 10/- would have been enough then.

Edited by hider
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4 hours ago, hider said:

Sure I have seen a cast plaque from one of the old canal companies to the effect that a £5 fee would be offered for recovering a body from the cut. Could be a spoof I suppose.

 

Perhaps 10/- would have been enough then.

RECOVERY OF BODIES FROM THE THAMES.

HC Deb 31 July 1900 vol 87 cc171-2171
§MR. HEDDERWICK 

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, seeing that the watermen on the Thames receive a pecuniary reward for the recovery from the river of a dead body, but nothing for the rescue of a living body, he will consider the desirability, in the public interest, of making the work of rescue at least as remunerative as that of recovery.

§*SIR M. WHITE RIDLEY 

I presume that what the hon. Member calls a reward is the fee of 5s. to which any person is entitled who first gives notice of the discovery of a drowned body to the parish authorities, under a statute of George III., of which the object was to secure the decent burial of cast- 172aways. I cannot credit the suggestion that for the sake of this sum any waterman would deliberately refrain from rescuing a person alive; and I do not propose to take any steps in the direction suggested, though I may mention that the police bring any attempt to save life from drowning (whether successful or not) to the notice of the Royal Humane Society, who make awards in cases where they consider that the circumstances justify recognition.

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7 hours ago, PaulG said:

Together with another narrowboat, we located the body floating downstream just below Kempsey yesterday morning.

We alerted the authorities and guided them to the location of the body, which had eventually become snagged in an overhanging tree and so was stationary.
I thought the actions of the Police in closing the navigation for two whole days by calling it a "crime scene" (despite the fact that the local newspaper report stated that no foul play was suspected) was heavy handed and show little understanding of the situation that they were dealing with.
The fact that the body was located *within an hour* by the first two private boats that they allowed to go downstream suggests that what they really needed was eyes on the water to save wasting the time of the search and rescue teams.
Apart from the time that a diver was actually in the water on Saturday afternoon, there was no need to close the river at all.

They would have been better off if they had leafletted boaters as they passed though with details of the person that they were looking for, and details of who to contact if found.
I also love the way that the press reports (which are usually press releases more or less verbatim) are worded to give the impression that it was the Police and Fire Service that found the body, without actually saying so, of course.

Nothing, I repeat absolutely nothing printed in any newspaper can ever be accepted as even remotely accurate or in any way based on anything factual. Newspapers will print their best guess or anything they wish to fill their pages. The police will probably have not contacted them directly so they printed a standard phrase. I found a body in the Trent in Nottingham and the local lads dealt swiftly with removing it as it was very much on show. Police, fire, nhs, social workers are always damned if they do and damned if they dont imho.

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Nothing, I repeat absolutely nothing printed in any newspaper can ever be accepted as even remotely accurate or in any way based on anything factual. Newspapers will print their best guess or anything they wish to fill their pages. The police will probably have not contacted them directly so they printed a standard phrase. I found a body in the Trent in Nottingham and the local lads dealt swiftly with removing it as it was very much on show. Police, fire, nhs, social workers are always damned if they do and damned if they dont imho.

I tend to agree. I have known one or two folk who have got on the wrong side of the law, when the newspaper's interpretation has been nothing short of lies.
What they don't know they make up.
Another time there were reports in a local paper about people rolling up at foodbanks in cars and vans, taking stuff away and selling it. I drove one of the cars, and we were transporting stuff from one foodbank to another to address shortages, collecting from supermarkets, delivering emergency parcels to the needy etc.  They soon stopped when they found out that the local cop shop (and fire station) helped in a big way. 
Lying barstewards.

Edited by Guest
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Years ago I found an old man that had fell in, the police were looking for him so of course within a minute I had found him, I got him to the side and left sharpish. He had fell in and drowned large coveralls and wellingtons arnt the best for swimming in?

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4 hours ago, Dave123 said:

I think the title should be 'don't be utterly intoxicated and steer'. Obviously loads and loads of boaters steer while drinking alcohol difference is how much and not being drunk?

That's true, and what can make the issue worse is that there a many people on the waterways who are single handed. Nothing wrong with that of course, unless they also drink excessively, and yes it does happen, and I am sure many people can say that they have seen loners on boats who may fall into that category! That is then an accident or tragedy waiting to happen. This was brought home to me a couple of years ago when my wife and I pulled a man out of the canal after a struggle who had fallen overboard. I went to secure his boat and it was full of empty wine bottles the contents of which seemed to be inside him!

 

 

Howard

 

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8 minutes ago, Tonka said:

I am surprised that Alan de enfield hasn't said that going over a weir is a sign of a true boat steerer just like falling in is.

I'd be more likely to say that "going over a weir is the sign of an ill prepared boater" (but there will be exceptions)

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On 02/07/2019 at 17:02, mrsmelly said:

Nothing, I repeat absolutely nothing printed in any newspaper can ever be accepted as even remotely accurate or in any way based on anything factual. Newspapers will print their best guess or anything they wish to fill their pages. The police will probably have not contacted them directly so they printed a standard phrase. I found a body in the Trent in Nottingham and the local lads dealt swiftly with removing it as it was very much on show. Police, fire, nhs, social workers are always damned if they do and damned if they dont imho.

Goes to show how wrong you can be.
https://www.westmercia.police.uk/article/61659/Man-seen-falling-from-Worcester-bridge

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3 hours ago, PaulG said:

Let me explain. The police will have notified the poxy newspaper as and when they saw fit with what they saw fit to allow a poxy newspaper to have information on. Newspapers have zero accountability to anyone, unlike the police and other services. They will and have printed countless times complete and utter fabrication due to having nothing genuine to go on. I have no idea when the police told or if indeed the police did tell anyone re this matter. I personaly when dealing with what at the time was a front page case in every so called newspaper of a very serious crime first hand experience of poxy newspapers who simply made the story up because I as first person on scene would not tell the morons anything of what had happened. Newspapers are not worth the paper they have written on and I and many who understand why never buy one.

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