Another Sunk Boat.....Banbury

[tree monkey]

23 minutes ago, booke23 said:

I get the impression he was fundamentally sympathetic to the effect lack of money had on people, and the lack of opportunities people in that predicament were afforded. I've read his entire works and he's a very captivating writer and observationalist. If you liked down and out, The road to Wigan pier is also very interesting. 

Agreed the sympathy was there but I think he couldn't quite walk the walk as it were, his middle class upbringing tended to colour his outlook.

An outsider to both worlds I think, his dislike of the colonial life and his lower(?) Middle class upbringing and an aversion to the squalor that he found in road to Wigan and down and out.

I am a fan of his works myself and had a good collection of his writing and biographies at one time and agreed his writing and life was fascinating 

[Mike Tee]

IOne of my favourite lines from one of his books (which I’ll probably misquote as have not read it for 60 years) is from his parody of communism -

‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others’

[Mike Todd]

15 hours ago, tree monkey said:

Put this monkey in the poshest suit and within about 10mins I look like l scrounged it out of the reject pile from oxfam, I have now accepted this as a talent 

Orwell it must be said has a very conflicted view of the working class and the poverty that went with it, certainly in down and out he often gave the impression of a certain disgust at their lifestyle, an interesting chap

I suspect Orwell thought that no-one should (have to) live such a poor quality of life.

[matty40s]

5 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

I suspect Orwell thought that no-one should (have to) live such a poor quality of life.

Monkey quite enjoys it.

[tree monkey]

50 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

I suspect Orwell thought that no-one should (have to) live such a poor quality of life.

Agreed, I think he was genuinely shocked that people lived like that in the UK.

46 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Monkey quite enjoys it.

Having low expectations helps

[booke23]

4 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

IOne of my favourite lines from one of his books (which I’ll probably misquote as have not read it for 60 years) is from his parody of communism -

‘All animals are equal but some are more equal than others’

My favourite Orwell line is the opening sentence of Nineteen Eighty-Four:- "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." I don't think I've read an opening line that so succinctly sets the tone for a whole book. He was a very gifted writer.  

I must say this is quite a thread drift from the original post, but I'm enjoying it!

[Victor Vectis]

17 minutes ago, booke23 said:

My favourite Orwell line is the opening sentence of Nineteen Eighty-Four:- "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." I don't think I've read an opening line that so succinctly sets the tone for a whole book. He was a very gifted writer.  

I must say this is quite a thread drift from the original post, but I'm enjoying it!

To drift even further......

This was a question on University Challenge the other night.

[tree monkey]

3 hours ago, booke23 said:

I must say this is quite a thread drift from the original post, but I'm enjoying it!

Must agree, it's been a while since I've thought about Orwell, I probably should revisit his works

[booke23]

49 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Must agree, it's been a while since I've thought about Orwell, I probably should revisit his works

 

Yes why not!

 

In fact tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of his works going out of copyright in the UK, so it needn't even cost you anything to download his complete works on  kindle or similar. 

[PD1964]

5 hours ago, booke23 said:

I must say this is quite a thread drift from the original post, but I'm enjoying it!

  Well I imagine most of us can’t really be ars£d with unpleasant old men who couldn’t be bothered to maintain his boat, who seams not that disappointed it sunk as now he’ll get a council property and have no responsibility for clearing the mess up. At least Banbury centre will have one less eye sore once it’s removed.

Edited December 31, 2021 by PD1964

[Ex Brummie]

i'm sure that there will be no shortage of replacements.

[PD1964]

14 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

i'm sure that there will be no shortage of replacements.

Yes the one’s already on the canal and the one’s thinking of living the dream without the funds to do so, after all it’s a cheap way to live.

Edited December 31, 2021 by PD1964

[ditchcrawler]

There is a FB group called Inland waterways abandoned boats, you see posts on there people wanting a freebee wreck they can live in 

[PD1964]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

There is a FB group called Inland waterways abandoned boats, you see posts on there people wanting a freebee wreck they can live in 

Now there’s one in Banbury for one of the FB members. I’m sure the majority of donated boats have come from the K&A and London area and just get passed around the FB members.

[Richard T]

This is what happens when a boat goes over the weir at Sileby Mill on the Soar. Fortunately it was unoccupied at the time but it was someones home. The boat lost most of its superstructure and then submarined until it hit two moored boats. These have now been moved out of the way and the boat secured to the pontoons. The heap of debris is what remains of the superstructure. This happened a couple of days ago. The weir is unprotected and the boat must have broken free of its morrings in the flood conditions on the river.

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Richard T

[matty40s]

I can only say I am disappointed that Alec has allowed a fat boat on that mooring, and dread to think what will happen in a proper flood(2012,2007), I think fattie and pontoon will disappear.

[manxmike]

I've always been fascinated by the way a certain section of the boating fraternity have changed things. In the 70s and early 80s there were a number of "garden sheds", hulls with the weirdest arrangements of things built on. Then came the alternative lifestyle "travellers" who moved out of their old lorries onto old boats, always multitudes of children and dogs, sometimes hard to tell one from the other.

They seemed to mostly disappear after a while, probably into council accommodation.

Then into the 21st century we have the live aboard folk who collect things - old tyres, empty plastic bottles, massive amounts of timber, bicycles etc etc. Sadly in a lot of cases the collections spill onto the towpath and into the canal.

I firmly believe that everyone has the freedom of choice to live as they want, but not when it causes problems for the rest of the population. Call me reactionary, but live and let live doesn't mean destroying things for everyone else.

[Alan de Enfield]

20 minutes ago, manxmike said:

.................multitudes of children and dogs, sometimes hard to tell one from the other.

 

Generally the dogs have 4 legs and the chidren just half that number.

[manxmike]

Have you seen some of the children?

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, manxmike said:

Have you seen some of the children?

 

Some of those K&A / Bath 'Boaters' .......................... Hmmmmm .............

[dmr]

Having actually met a few boat children, including those on the K&A, I can honestly say they are generally impressive. Happy, confident, sociable, educated and with good practical skills. A childhood amongst a community of boaters appears to produce much better adjusted kids than a housing estate and a typical school. I believe one K&A boat sent one child to Oxford and one to Cambridge.

[Athy]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

 I believe one K&A boat sent one child to Oxford and one to Cambridge.

Last week as I walked past Christ's College in Cambridge and noticed a pile of rubbish on the pavement outside the main entrance. I wonder....

Edited January 1, 2022 by Athy

[PD1964]

8 hours ago, matty40s said:

I can only say I am disappointed that Alec has allowed a fat boat on that mooring, and dread to think what will happen in a proper flood(2012,2007), I think fattie and pontoon will disappear.

I suspect money, an extra £K or more for a wide, happening on my old moorings, jamming Wides in anywhere because they can charge more. I wouldn’t fancy any of those moorings in a bad flood to be honest.

[dmr]

46 minutes ago, Athy said:

Last week as I walked past Christ's College in Cambridge and noticed a pile of rubbish on the pavement outside the main entrance. I wonder....

 

Was it a pile of wet wood with a bit of scrap steel and a spare cassette or two? or a broken generator? 😀

[MtB]

16 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Was it a pile of wet wood with a bit of scrap steel and a spare cassette or two? or a broken generator? 😀

 

I always imagine the bog cassettes one sees on boat roofs must actually be full. As a pump-out user perhaps you won't be aware of how easily the wind takes an empty cassette away!