Boat burgled above Watford locks

[RLWP]

 

I totally agree. Not a lot was taken, little damage was caused. I'm privileged to own a boat at all so this isn't that big a deal to me.

 

Starry is a lot more bothered about it than me. She doesn't need to be IMO, but she is.

 

And thank you to everyone who has commented so kindly in this thread!

 

 

MtB

 

She we get some 'I've been burgled by Finch' plaques made, Mike?

 

Richard

[carlt]

 

 

The point I make is that this criminal has often gained sympathy for being failed by people whom he in fact steadfastly avoided and for learning to live his chosen rough life due to heroic service in our armed forces of which there is no evidence other than myth and rumour.

 

 

As you failed to address the points I made I may be on your ignore list so you may not read this.

 

I'm not sure, as an individual, he has gained any sympathy (certainly not from me) but, as a petty criminal who only takes what he needs and causes as little damage as he can, I would say that the system should be held to account for letting him repeatedly slip through the rehabilitation net and failing to address his needs, rather than putting him back on the streets to offend again.

 

He is obviously not maliciously robbing and destroying without care (unlike the folk that torched my boat) and as my OH's work proves, others like him are not beyond rehabilitation.

 

Is the idea not to stop these petty criminals re-offending?

 

The "arrest, punish, release" regime that he has been subjected to over the past 45 years (according to your casual research) obviously hasn't worked so what would you suggest?

 

Just vilifying him without addressing the problem hasn't worked either.

 

Whether he was a member of the armed forces (which seems to be accepted by all except you) or not the system has failed to rehabilitate this man despite multiple opportunities and, because of this, the system has failed his victims.

Edited June 11, 2013 by carlt

[madcat]

Greenie Carl , as usual you you say what I think but sometimes struggle to write.

[MtB]

 

 

I have Guides 1;3;4 bought in the late 70's (can't see a publication date) in good nick which you can have foc if you can arrange collection Sheffield/Chesterfield area.

 

Sadly, I can't ever see me using them again.

 

Cheers

 

HH

 

 

Very kind of you to offer, thank you! My apologies for not answering sooner.

 

I think I would prefer newer copies, but thank you anyway. The copies stolen ranged between five and fifteen years old and the info in the older ones was surprisingly out of date already. Copies published in the 1970's will be even more out of date. Donate them to Chesterfield Canal Trust perhaps?!

 

The most annoying aspect is that my copies had lots of personal notes in, nice places to moor, good shops near the cut, convenient parking spots etc etc....

 

MtB

[Athy]

The most annoying aspect is that my copies had lots of personal notes in, nice places to moor, good shops near the cut, convenient parking spots etc etc....

 

MtB

 

 

 

 

....yes, same with ours, if we lost them it would be rather like losing an address book - the value of the book itself is minimal but the contents, built up over a number of years, are hard to replace.

[MtB]

 

She we get some 'I've been burgled by Finch' plaques made, Mike?

 

Richard

 

Not a bad idea Richard!

 

Reg is secretly pleased to have joined the exclusive club of Finch victims.

 

Maybe 'exclusive' isn't quite the right word.

 

 

MtB

[Grace and Favour]

 

She we get some 'I've been burgled by Finch' plaques made, Mike?

 

Richard

She we - - are you sure?

[Harpur Hill]

 

 

Very kind of you to offer, thank you! My apologies for not answering sooner.

 

I think I would prefer newer copies, but thank you anyway. The copies stolen ranged between five and fifteen years old and the info in the older ones was surprisingly out of date already. Copies published in the 1970's will be even more out of date. Donate them to Chesterfield Canal Trust perhaps?!

 

The most annoying aspect is that my copies had lots of personal notes in, nice places to moor, good shops near the cut, convenient parking spots etc etc....

 

MtB

 

Hi

 

Thanks for your reply. I quite understand.

 

Your comments prompted me to see if I could trace the publication date through the ISBN number ;-

 

Guide 1 1972

 

Guides 3 &4 'not found invalid ISBN number'. Well that's the number in the Guide!

 

Also, my Nicholson's Real Ale Guide turns out to be published1976 Lots of pubs that have gone and ales/brewers that are a distant memory!

 

I'm sure things were simpler 37 years ago or is that just a memory thing? "Ah, yes I remember it well"

 

Cheers

HH

[ditchcrawler]

 

Not a bad idea Richard!

 

Reg is secretly pleased to have joined the exclusive club of Finch victims.

 

Maybe 'exclusive' isn't quite the right word.

 

 

MtB

I think we had a visit from Mr Finch but he wasn't impressed having two mutts greeting him and didn't enter. Probably thought it was his birthday when he found the rear slide unlocked.

[MtB]

 

Hi

 

Thanks for your reply. I quite understand.

 

Your comments prompted me to see if I could trace the publication date through the ISBN number ;-

 

Guide 1 1972

 

Guides 3 &4 'not found invalid ISBN number'. Well that's the number in the Guide!

 

Also, my Nicholson's Real Ale Guide turns out to be published1976 Lots of pubs that have gone and ales/brewers that are a distant memory!

 

I'm sure things were simpler 37 years ago or is that just a memory thing? "Ah, yes I remember it well"

 

Cheers

HH

 

ISTR real ale barely existed in 1976! Most pubs served Watneys (know locally as Grotneys). The best in Real Ale we aspired to was finding a pub with well-cellared Courage Best or Directors.

 

And yes things WERE simpler 37 years ago. No computers for a start!

 

MtB

[carlt]

 

ISTR real ale barely existed in 1976! Most pubs served Watneys (know locally as Grotneys). The best in Real Ale we aspired to was finding a pub with well-cellared Courage Best or Directors.

 

When I moved South (to Coventry) in the mid-80s I couldn't believe I'd moved to a real ale desert.

 

Keg Brew XI polluted most pubs with no hand pumps at all and if a pub claimed "Real Ale" it was invariably Directors.

 

Thank goodness for the oasis that was Southam and The Old Mint.

 

Edited to add: Oh and The Albany in Earlsdon.

Edited June 11, 2013 by carlt

[Athy]

1976 was the year I discovered what is now called "real ale", quaffing McMullen's at the Farriers' Arms near the abbey in St. Albans. It's been a downhill slide (or perhaps uphill) ever since.

 

I too qualify for a Finched plaque, though he took nowt. At Clattercote Wharf, incidentally. Broke into the engine room via side doores, obviously thought that there was nothing worth drinking or eating ( the doors fore and aft of the engine room were shut) and trundled off elsewhere.

[matty40s]

I moved to the Midlands at the same time, swiftly becoming ensconced in the licenced trade with a dad who was a CAMRA member so eager to impress. Every pub I ran increased the real ale range and volume due to my unstinting efforts to keep the throughput going burp . .

I moved to Rugby in the very early 90's and the town seemed to rediscover real beer while I was there, the Raglan Arms opening and all the other pubs on the circuit eventually featuring real ale where keg alone had existed before.

[Kiwidad]

I moved to the Midlands at the same time, swiftly becoming ensconced in the licenced trade with a dad who was a CAMRA member so eager to impress. Every pub I ran increased the real ale range and volume due to my unstinting efforts to keep the throughput going burp . . I moved to Rugby in the very early 90's and the town seemed to rediscover real beer while I was there, the Raglan Arms opening and all the other pubs on the circuit eventually featuring real ale where keg alone had existed before.

Hmmmmmm, so where did you develop a taste for Jura and Glenmorangie ? :-)

[matty40s]

Childhood campervan trips to the Western Isles, I could list many, Mull, Arran, Eighh, Jura, Islay, Colonsay, Skye,Tiree, Gigha(must visit again sometime), Iona, etc etc.

Most of my weekends or holidays as a kid were spent up in Scotland or the Lake District, or on boats. , then September in Cider country picking apples..

[Tuscan]

I am a bit confused is he an assbreathing skankmongering toerag as per the opening post or someone we should herald as a canal folk hero after whom we should create plaques for confirming you'd been finched ??

[RLWP]

No idea. I know how I feel about being Finched. How did you feel when it happened to you?

 

Richard

[Tuscan]

No idea whether it was Finch so not accusing him . I know how I felt about being burgled.

[RLWP]

So there we are. You are outraged by the invasion of your privacy. I'm not particularly bothered once I realised who had done our burglaries. Both are equally valid sets of feelings, no-one has to choose

 

Richard

[luctor et emergo]

An appreciation society is to be set up, in honour of the much loved canal wanderer Finch. Without this scamps unstinting quest to find and expose narrow boats security flaws, unknowing boat owners would leave their possesion open to molestation and violation. Despite the considerable investment of time and effort, Finch has refused to accept any attempt at payment, being happy with only the occasional meal or beverage in return. Representations are ccurrently made to have his life long dedication properly rewarded, by inclusion in this year's Honours List.

[Tuscan]

So there we are. You are outraged by the invasion of your privacy. I'm not particularly bothered once I realised who had done our burglaries. Both are equally valid sets of feelings, no-one has to choose

 

Richard

There I'm not. Did I say I was outraged by the invasion of my privacy or are these your words and true feelings. All I said is that I know how I felt , I still do.

[RLWP]

There I'm not. Did I say I was outraged by the invasion of my privacy or are these your words and true feelings. All I said is that I know how I felt , I still do.

 

Fair enough. That was my interpretation of "assbreathing skankmongering toerag". I thought he might have upset you

 

Richard

[Tuscan]

Fair enough. That was my interpretation of "assbreathing skankmongering toerag". I thought he might have upset you

 

Richard

If you look at post 1 this was Stars first posting on discovering the burglary , I was just posing the question. Sorry wasn't meant to be a trap of any kind.

[RLWP]

Got it.

 

The way you posed the question was as an either/or. I'm not sure that I want to have to take a party line about how I feel, or to insist someone else feels a particular way. So, I don't accept your question

 

Richard

[MtB]

The whole thing is rather bemusing. On the one hand Mr Finch seems to me to have a solid moral code, doing minimum damage, taking only things he needs to pursue his chosen lifestyle, leaving behind valuable items which could easily be sold. I have a quiet admiration for this despite the fact that his moral code differs from mine. At least he has one, unlike the true assbreathers who torched the French tug and Carl's boat for example.

 

On the other hand theft is theft and if everyone behaved as Mr Finch does, the society he feeds on and whose help he rejects would not exist to provide him with the resources he needs to live his way of life.

 

I find it hard to be angry when the impact on my life is so minimal. Equally he must not be encouraged, hence my wasting my day reporting the crime and hanging around at the boat for police and soco to visit, take my statement, fingerprint the boat and me, etc etc when I had planned to spend the day fitting and wiring up Coasty's solar panels.

 

All this assumes Anthony Finch is actually the culprit in the first place, which seems likely unless he really died last year as some people report. I emailed the copper dealing with the crime asking him this, but no reply yet.

 

MtB