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Anti Anglo-Welsh Rant


nicknorman

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That's a thought. Given Nick's love of things historic, I wonder if he has been through Braunston at a certain time of year? :)

 

George ex nb Alton retired

I haven't, but I certainly don't have a problem with the annual braunston traffic jam. Although I guess Tim probably makes a bob or two out of it, it is primarily done for the benefit of a load of (misguided) boaters and an even bigger load of gongoozlers, and there really isn't another way of doing it that wouldn't cause congestion and delays. I see that as totally different from a hire business who are only concerned about profit and having an "easy life" whilst they make it, and whilst claiming some divine right to occupy what should be public space.

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I recently ranted about an AW boat on a water point near me. 60' boat on the centre of a 120' space, left there for two days. I took great enjoyment in tramping mud across their deck as I negotiated filling water and getting rid of quite a lot of rubbish while rafted alongside. There were free spots with a good concrete edge that just required staking a few hundred yards away. Ultimate laziness, entirely unforgivable IMO.

If it were me i would have shifted it.

Edited by Darren72
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And I am sure that if those boats were blocking navigation they would get more than a gentle word from passing boats eager to "get 'em ahead"

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Most of the boatmen/women I came into contact with had an uncanny perception if a boat was coming, & by the time it arrived they had made room for passage often with many ribald remarks & general banter & of course at that time it would have been a very unusual event to see a leisure/pleasure boat

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When Dartline ran their hire base at Bunbury they were always a pain, with either hire, or boats they built & were fitting out ,& the van parking on turn around day/s was well known, they tried it on me coming south after a load of concrete piles delivery to Chester, & on the way back empty for another load, top set of gates had a van parked on lock side to prevent gate being opened as motor was on that side I asked if they would move it.( the reply was you will have to wait until we decide to move it ) the reply was ( if it's not moved now I'll push the gates open with the boats & have no doubt the beam will damage the van, an argument followed, but the van was moved as I started to push open the gates. They complained to the BW section inspector at Norbury but as I was contracting for BW they got an earful, & it improved for a time, but then reverted back but if they saw my boats there was a scurrying around to not hold me up.

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I've encountered crops of hire boats clogging the place up a bit from time to time. I'm inclined to take the view of Roland E that they are a lot smaller than me as I carefully wriggle through.

I think it would be worth the enforcement team leaning on them to be more considerate and not overstay.

 

My view on hire boats FWIW . I like the hirers , they're fun and usually interesting . The hire boat industry pays C RT substantial sums but that doesn't give them a total free reign to do as they wish.

 

On a personal note the mob of hire boats at Cut End are most useful to park a boat temporarily while opening the lock. If they're not handy it's a bit shallow right at the bankside so they make my life easier.

 

I suppose I'm saying that mobs of hire boats are not at the top of my grump list but I can understand why they could be causing problems for other users.

 

X Alan W , I don't blame you . With work to do you don't want to be held up. Sometimes life needs a big stick but mercifully mostly it doesn't .

Edited by madcat
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Nothing out of the ordinary with 'Hire base's' breasting ém up on water points during winter months is it? If memory serves me right, in the early 90's when Gt Haywood used to be Dartline hire boats it was virtually impossible to take on water there unless you had a SUPER long hose and negotiate climbing over all of their hire boats to get to the tap!!

Those were the days huh?

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Another thumbs up for the staff at Wootton Wawen on the Stratford Canal. We were concerned that whilst filling with water we were blocking the canal - the man in charge said that any boats coming would just have to wait: "You shouldn't be on the canals if you're in a hurry." he said. How true, I thought.

Since then I have seen how much of a hurry so many are in!

A hurry to get to your graves with your high blood pressure and canal rage...

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"you need to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible." - bicycle? car? even walking is quicker!

 

Surely the days of freight on the canals are long past? Canal boating = pleasure boating. That's all it is.

 

I wonder if people will start living in caravans alongside motorways and then complain about trucks going past so fast...

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"you need to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible." - bicycle? car? even walking is quicker!

 

Surely the days of freight on the canals are long past? Canal boating = pleasure boating. That's all it is.

 

I wonder if people will start living in caravans alongside motorways and then complain about trucks going past so fast...

My pleasure is in being efficient and wasting no time. For me, and for many others, preserving the skills that enable you to do this is just as important as preserving a boat itself. Plus, if I'm out boating, I'm there to go boating and see places, I can sit about on the boat and drink tea and read the papers or whatever at any other time. Of course this is subject to modern constraints like having to slow past moored boats and a lack of dredging in general.

 

It really gets my goat when other people say how I should use my boat; that my way is wrong, but theirs is right. I don't go around saying to people, "come on, give it some oil and get 'em ahead, if you want to dawdle take up rambling" or run up to people at locks and start winding paddles on them- but it's completely acceptable for them to tell me that I need to travel for fewer hours each day, that I should cheerily laugh with someone blocking the cut across a water point, or who leaves their tiny wife to heave all the gates and paddles whilst they stand imperiously on the counter.

 

I don't presume to tell other people how to use their boat, but plenty tell me how I ought to be using mine.

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Why should I be told to get on a bike, walk, hire a car because you want to block the cut and you have all the time in the world? I repeat not everyone on a boat is on holiday and even whilst on holiday circumstances may dictate a bit of speed. You may not be a walk or cycle away from your destination and it could be that the boat is needed at the destination. You may not be able to leave the boat. Please don't tell me how I should boat. You are not aware of my circumstances.

Edited by Little Else
  • Greenie 1
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My pleasure is in being efficient and wasting no time. For me, and for many others, preserving the skills that enable you to do this is just as important as preserving a boat itself. Plus, if I'm out boating, I'm there to go boating and see places, I can sit about on the boat and drink tea and read the papers or whatever at any other time. Of course this is subject to modern constraints like having to slow past moored boats and a lack of dredging in general.

 

It really gets my goat when other people say how I should use my boat; that my way is wrong, but theirs is right. I don't go around saying to people, "come on, give it some oil and get 'em ahead, if you want to dawdle take up rambling" or run up to people at locks and start winding paddles on them- but it's completely acceptable for them to tell me that I need to travel for fewer hours each day, that I should cheerily laugh with someone blocking the cut across a water point, or who leaves their tiny wife to heave all the gates and paddles whilst they stand imperiously on the counter.

 

I don't presume to tell other people how to use their boat, but plenty tell me how I ought to be using mine.

You've included a tiny bit of contradiction here, on the one hand you've told us that "....I don't presume to tell other people how to use their boat....." and then you've said,"....or who leaves their tiny wife to heave all the gates and paddles whilst they stand imperiously on the counter......" are you saying that they shouldn't leave their tiny wife to do all the heaving? Isn't that just a bit like telling someone how to use their boat??

 

Whilst I wont intentionally hold anyone up and if there is someone behind me who obviously wants to go faster I'll pull over and wave them past but when all is said and done if you want to travel faster, is a narrow boat really the way to do it? Flat out you should only be doing 4mph (that's not me telling people how to use their boat, it is the regulations). At that speed you really aren't going to get anywhere very quickly are you? Held up for 10 minutes? that'll put you less than a mile behind where you would have been without the holdup. The nature of the canals is that holdups are pretty much the norm so planning to get somewhere for a specific time is a bit of a fool's errand. We have destinations but not timetables.

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Whilst I wont intentionally hold anyone up and if there is someone behind me who obviously wants to go faster I'll pull over and wave them past but when all is said and done if you want to travel faster, is a narrow boat really the way to do it? Flat out you should only be doing 4mph (that's not me telling people how to use their boat, it is the regulations). At that speed you really aren't going to get anywhere very quickly are you? Held up for 10 minutes? that'll put you less than a mile behind where you would have been without the holdup. The nature of the canals is that holdups are pretty much the norm so planning to get somewhere for a specific time is a bit of a fool's errand. We have destinations but not timetables.

Perhaps you are speaking only for yourself, but we most certainly do have timetables. They are called our flights home. So when we come down for the weekend and have to fly home on Sunday evening, of course we leave a bit of slack and so 10 minutes delay would be accommodated. But not multiple repeats of 10 minutes just because someone with nothing better to do with their time tells us superciliously "you can't be in a hurry on the canals" whilst making a point of being especially slow when you have already indicated you are on a schedule. A schedule based on 3 mph and a reasonable rate of progress through locks, of course.

 

Holdups due to "technical issues", congestion etc are unavoidable, but man made hold ups created by someone who just wants to make the point that they will decide how fast you can go (whilst secretly feeling inadequate due to their tiny appendage) and getting a kick out of seeing your frustration, are a pain in the whatsits. Ditto (getting back on topic) are hold ups created by commercial enterprises who put an their own easy life and making their profit, above your reasonable use of the canal.

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or who leaves their tiny wife to heave all the gates and paddles whilst they stand imperiously on the counter.

 

I don't presume to tell other people how to use their boat, but plenty tell me how I ought to be using mine.

My tiny wife(4 ft 8 ins) does the locks because she can't steer the boat.

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I do puzzle a bit about the 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' hold ups resulting in your frustration. You get stuck behind someone who is just bimbling along and that is the unacceptable hold up but you get to the next lock to find 6 boats ahead of you and that is the acceptable holdup, yet both will hold you up and the 6 boats at the lock will probably do so for far longer.

 

I have been stuck behind boats travelling very slowly but tend to wonder if they have a problem rather than get frustrated about it. I was behind a guy on the Llangollen during the summer who was travelling at less than 1mph through Chirk Tunnel, when we got out into the light (after stopping on about 3 occasions and switching off the engine in the tunnel because I couldn't go that slowly) I could immediately see that he had something fouling his propeller since the thrust was all being pushed out to one side. I caught him up and told him what his problem was. He was a newbie hirer and didn't realise the reason for his lack of progress he was grateful for the advice and I felt quite good about helping someone. When people are bimbling it isn't necessarily to annoy you, it may be lack of confidence or a problem with the boat.

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I do puzzle a bit about the 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' hold ups resulting in your frustration. You get stuck behind someone who is just bimbling along and that is the unacceptable hold up but you get to the next lock to find 6 boats ahead of you and that is the acceptable holdup, yet both will hold you up and the 6 boats at the lock will probably do so for far longer.

 

I have been stuck behind boats travelling very slowly but tend to wonder if they have a problem rather than get frustrated about it. I was behind a guy on the Llangollen during the summer who was travelling at less than 1mph through Chirk Tunnel, when we got out into the light (after stopping on about 3 occasions and switching off the engine in the tunnel because I couldn't go that slowly) I could immediately see that he had something fouling his propeller since the thrust was all being pushed out to one side. I caught him up and told him what his problem was. He was a newbie hirer and didn't realise the reason for his lack of progress he was grateful for the advice and I felt quite good about helping someone. When people are bimbling it isn't necessarily to annoy you, it may be lack of confidence or a problem with the boat.

Regarding your first para, the differentiator is a holdup which is unavoidable / no-one's fault, vs one which is entirely man made and unnecessary. The latter is far more frustrating because it is unnecessary and possibly the result of someone merely wanting to exert their will on you (feeling of power etc) or because they have no concept of other people's situations.

 

Regarding your second para, if someone wants to go very slowly that is fine, but they should allow others to overtake. In the case of the newbie that is to a degree unavoidable but most people understand that if you are going very slowly and folk come up behind, it is common courtesy to allow them to overtake. But yes, I mind that less than those who wilfully slow you down just to make a point.

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Oh dear oh dear we do seem to have gone a bit off topic! Just to bring it back on track I wonder how many hire bases can be caught out on google maps almost blocking the canal .... here's one to start with (and it's actually one of my favourite hire companies!

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.9186217,-1.2991516,165m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

although to be honest it doesn't look too bad.

 

Just to add voice to the theme above I am of the opinion that we should let people use the canals in the way they want ( as long as they do no harm) rather than enforcing our will on them.

 

.......... I have just read my comment back and realised I have brought the topic back to the OP's then taken it off topic again at the end! Oh well!

  • Greenie 1
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Oh dear oh dear we do seem to have gone a bit off topic! Just to bring it back on track I wonder how many hire bases can be caught out on google maps almost blocking the canal .... here's one to start with (and it's actually one of my favourite hire companies!

 

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.9186217,-1.2991516,165m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

although to be honest it doesn't look too bad.

 

Just to add voice to the theme above I am of the opinion that we should let people use the canals in the way they want ( as long as they do no harm) rather than enforcing our will on them.

 

.......... I have just read my comment back and realised I have brought the topic back to the OP's then taken it off topic again at the end! Oh well!

 

one of my favourite pubs too!

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Pub, Pub? Did someone mention a PUB??

 

Perhaps you are speaking only for yourself, but we most certainly do have timetables. They are called our flights home. So when we come down for the weekend and have to fly home on Sunday evening, of course we leave a bit of slack and so 10 minutes delay would be accommodated. But not multiple repeats of 10 minutes just because someone with nothing better to do with their time tells us superciliously "you can't be in a hurry on the canals" whilst making a point of being especially slow when you have already indicated you are on a schedule. A schedule based on 3 mph and a reasonable rate of progress through locks, of course.

Holdups due to "technical issues", congestion etc are unavoidable, but man made hold ups created by someone who just wants to make the point that they will decide how fast you can go (whilst secretly feeling inadequate due to their tiny appendage) and getting a kick out of seeing your frustration, are a pain in the whatsits. Ditto (getting back on topic) are hold ups created by commercial enterprises who put an their own easy life and making their profit, above your reasonable use of the canal.

 

I agree. This is especially true to hirers like myself. Coming down Heartbreak Hill last May, in the middle of a queue of 6 boats, we were then overtaken by a larger boat full of men who had used the lock beside us and jumped the queue deliberately. Their apparent story was they needed to be back at base the following morning at Preston Brooke and it was already 4pm. Now, this is unacceptable pushing in.

 

On our last day on the Middlewich branch of the Shroppie we were stuck behind a single-handed bloke on a hire boat cruising at tickover for 4 hours until we reached Barbridge Junction where he went one way and us the other. His reasons for going slowly is unknown to us, but his lack of awareness of his surroundings was unacceptable. We were almost kissing his stern yet he not once looked back or let us through.

 

There will always be clueless people in the world, regardless who they are. The rest of us just have to try and take it on the chin and either bear with it or find an alternative.

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Pub, Pub? Did someone mention a PUB??

 

 

I agree. This is especially true to hirers like myself. Coming down Heartbreak Hill last May, in the middle of a queue of 6 boats, we were then overtaken by a larger boat full of men who had used the lock beside us and jumped the queue deliberately. Their apparent story was they needed to be back at base the following morning at Preston Brooke and it was already 4pm. Now, this is unacceptable pushing in.

 

 

 

There will always be clueless people in the world, regardless who they are. The rest of us just have to try and take it on the chin and either bear with it or find an alternative.

This made me smile! When locking we try to do it as efficiently as possible, not rushing, just being efficient, and we have often overtaken boats on Heartbreak hill . I think the last one was when the boat puled in after every lock to let the lock labourer back on then pulled in before the next one, all of 100 yards away, to let them back off again. At every lock! If all the locks were paired, that would be no problem but when you get behind someone doing this on single locks, it slows everyone down.

We are never mob handed, just two of us.

 

haggis

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