John Sargeant ~ Barging about in Britain

[Ange]

 

 

Can you explain the mechanism by which more people walking and cycling the towpaths, birdwatching, etc leads to further 'investment in the canal network' please?

 

Because the only effect I can think of is heavier wear and tear on the infrastructure which will have to be funded by boaters and fixed govt funding.

 

Unless you hold that between them these extra visitors will give voluntary donations to cover the increased costs.

 

MtB

Well firstly I'd be interested to know how walkers, cyclists and birdwatchers add to the wear and tear on the infrastructure. The only one I can think of is towpath maintenance, and there are already joint enterprise schemes in place with local councils and Sustrans to share the burden in many places.

 

What I would hope is that the publicity generated by well known figures such as Prunella & Timothy, John Sergeant and Tony Robinson raises general awareness of the treasure that is our canal network. The public also need to be made aware that it is now run by a charity, and that if they want to see it's continued existence they need to donate towards it's upkeep.

 

We belong to the National Trust, the membership is a lot more per annum than CRT would dare to ask for from an individual. Ok we get free entrance to their buildings, but there have been years when we've been too busy boating to visit any. I doubt whether there's been one single year when we've saved enough in entrance fees to cover our membership fees but we've been happy to know that our contribution has helped preserve some wonderful buildings and estates.

 

People take the canals for granted - they need to be made aware that they can be lost and that lovely walk with the dog they enjoy every day could one day be a walk along a stagnant puddle, as happened to so many canals in the past.

 

I have no idea of the mechanism, nor do I feel that having an aspiration obliges me to knowing how to make it work. However, I was a mere "prole" less than 6 years ago so what do I know?

[narrowboatham]

Well I hope he does bore the pants off the proles.. There are FAR too many boats on the system already. Why do you want more?

 

 

MtB

This is not the first time i've seen a comment like this from you and it really annoys me, you seem to think you should have been the last one allowed to buy a narrowboat. If this really is your way of thinking perhaps we should look at it another way and say you've had your go now leave and make room for a newbie to have a try...

[mark99]

This is not the first time i've seen a comment like this from you and it really annoys me, you seem to think you should have been the last one allowed to buy a narrowboat. If this really is your way of thinking perhaps we should look at it another way and say you've had your go now leave and make room for a newbie to have a try...

 

 

I would not worry too much - it's his sense of humour - not always obvious.

[tillergirl]

he was being filmed at the middlewich FAB festival too.

yes he was but I recall he was on a narrow-boat not a barge.............we were watching him wind the boat but got bored after 10 minutes of complete inactivity

[GoodGurl]

yes he was but I recall he was on a narrow-boat not a barge.............we were watching him wind the boat but got bored after 10 minutes of complete inactivity

when i saw him he was on Kildare.

[Peter X]

"He's even sleeping on the barge."

 

Words fail me...

 

As an ex war reporter he must have sometimes slept in much worse places. Even in my relatively sheltered life I have. Whereas Harrison Ford, despite having been in the rubbish pit in the Death Star, was said in another topic on this forum to have gone to a hotel each night rather than sleep on his hired narrowboat. Maybe it was Callista Flockhart who was fussy?

[Ange]

 

 

I would not worry too much - it's his sense of humour - not always obvious.

I'd like to think that but I'm not so sure. Especially bearing in mind his response to my post.

 

Very happy to be corrected

[narrowboatham]

Well mtb has expressed his opinion on other threads today but not here. I wonder if when he passed his driving test he turned to the instructor told him "well that's you finished there is enough traffic on the roads now"

[MtB]

My use of the word 'prole' was alcohol-fueled mischief rather than an attempt at humour. I did it because I though all the usual suspects would leap on it, so I'm guilty of trolling. I apologise.

 

I stand by my view that there are too many boats on the system. We have 35,000 boats now. That's one boat for every 100 yards of canal length.

 

How many boats can 2,000 miles of canals cope with? Question addressed to those who disagree with my assertion that 35,000 is too many.

Well, you've got two! Can't I aspire to one?
I'm quite friendly, and don't hog lock landings

 

 

Of course you can! Just buy a second-hand one, don't add to congestion by having a new one built.

 

And in my defence, I may have two (old ones) but can only use one at a time

 

 

MtB

[Laurie Booth]

yes he was but I recall he was on a narrow-boat not a barge.............we were watching him wind the boat but got bored after 10 minutes of complete inactivity

Was he being filmed or video'd ?

Edited July 13, 2014 by Laurie.Booth

[twbm]

This is not the first time i've seen a comment like this from you and it really annoys me, you seem to think you should have been the last one allowed to buy a narrowboat. If this really is your way of thinking perhaps we should look at it another way and say you've had your go now leave and make room for a newbie to have a try...

 

FFS, He's got a sense of humour. Look it up.

[MtB]

This is not the first time i've seen a comment like this from you and it really annoys me, you seem to think you should have been the last one allowed to buy a narrowboat. If this really is your way of thinking perhaps we should look at it another way and say you've had your go now leave and make room for a newbie to have a try...

 

I disagree.

 

I think there are also too many stroppy, miserable gits with boats who should be made to get off the system. (Can you guess who I'm thinking of here? )

 

And they ALL seemed to be on the Middlewich Branch last weekend!

 

 

MtB

[system 4-50]

Simple. Reclassify the Kennet & Avon & all London canals as a residential country park where movement is not allowed. Relocate 34000 boats to said park. Then there is loads of room for the rest of us who like moving, even including driving instructors.

Sense of humour? What's one of those?

[b0atman]

So a narrowboat is a barge because it has a flat bottom .

Sam Springer the only commercial steel narrow boat builder then .

[MyLady]

yes he was but I recall he was on a narrow-boat not a barge.............we were watching him wind the boat but got bored after 10 minutes of complete inactivity

 

That's a filming schedule! A minute's usable footage from an hour's (in)activity is, for them, an effective use of time! Setting up camera(s), sound and, maybe lights - even with no special effects - can take vastly longer than the action.

 

(My son is a cameraman and tells me many a tale...)

 

Roger

[alan_fincher]

So a narrowboat is a barge because it has a flat bottom .

Sam Springer the only commercial steel narrow boat builder then .

 

And W.J. Yarwoods & Son, long before Sam Springer....

 

Our 1936 built Yarwoods narrow boat does not have a flat bottom, or angled chines.

[dave83]

Somewhat bumping an old thread...

 

I watched the first of these episodes the other day (Hull to Wakefield or so) having been quite excited of my love film disc arriving and thought he was thoroughly awkward and turned it off not long after he left Stanley Ferry workshops....I hope the rest get better but thought it was great exposure for the waterways....

[NickF]

I spent a couple of hours with him on The Rochdale in the summer, he came aboard the hire boat I was in to do some filming, he really is a nice guy and is keen that the program reaches a wider audience which is why it is not quite as canal focused as Time and Pru. I am not quite sure when my five minutes of fame will be but I suspect you will only see my backside against a balance beam or my finger pressing the button on the guillotine gate at Tod. He is not a through and through canal enthusiast but I did get the impression as he was half way through series two that he really is beginning to get what it is all about.