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Tootles

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About Tootles

  • Birthday 27/03/1950

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  • Location
    Preston
  • Occupation
    Retired
  • Boat Name
    Susie Q
  • Boat Location
    A canal near you!

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  1. Yes Iain, I think that's correct. When you head North, (from Tarleton), your 'let out' of the lock as the tide is making in the Douglas. By the time you get to the Five Mile Perch on the Ribble, your then heading upstream towards the link, (and Preston Docks), against the receding tide, plus whatever fresh water is coming down, so it's all 'uphill', so to speak. On the other hand, heading South, from the link, you travel down on the slack, then the outgoing tide. If your a quick boat, you will arrive at Tarleton well before a level can be made for you to get in. Bit of a juggling act really.
  2. The locky at Glasson takes bookings by the tide, to open the lock from the basin to the river. You can book passage not less then 24hrs in advance. The link locks are worked by a crew of BW men, and only operate during normal working hours, whatever the tide. On a personal note, 500 wild horses would not make me do that trip at night!!
  3. Agreed. Some friends of ours wanted 'off', to go up the L&L, but were told that no bookings were available. They asked to be put on the reserve list, but were told that it was pointless, as the reserve list was longer then the bookings list! I also agree that the whole thing is badly managed. And I also strongly believe that very soon a disaster is in the offing. I cant think of any other river in the UK managed by BW, where a close check is not kept on the boats that cross. You could go out at Tarleton, and end up out to sea, without anybody knowing where you were, (nor caring). The Ribble can be a real nasty river, not just with the tides, but with the unchecked amount of fresh water that can come down it following rain. It reminds me somewhat of the Severn below Tewksbury, but at least their your movements are known about, and to some extent controlled.
  4. /quote] What happened before the Ribble Link opened? presumably all the retailers (or most of them) listed in guides sold diesel then so it must have been commercially viable to do so. If the outlets survived then, how can more boats coming onto the Lanky via the Ribble Link be a factor? I agree though, there should be far more boats accommodated in the crossing than there are. haggis Well, the shortage of retail red diesel outlets on the Lanky was not there until just after the new regulations came into force. Most of the petrol cruisers 'can' their own fuel in anyway, and have always done so. Now it could be that those boatyards/marinas had all decided to stop selling red before the new measures had taken effect, but one in Garstang who I spoke to last week said "It was hardly worth the effort of leaving the shop to sell derv to boats, but once we realised the added cost of our time becoming unpaid tax collectors as well............" I think that the selling of fuel was, (and is), counted as a customer service, and not a provider of huge profits. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the accommodation of more boats on the Ribble Link crossing is dependant on lock capacity, and tide times. There are, of coarse, no 'safe havens' either side, to accommodate late boats. I know that Preston Docks are often quoted, (and used), as a Northbound safe haven, but there again, this facility is only available for a short time before and after high tide, due to the lock/bridgekeeper only being on duty at these times. The wind over water factor both on the Ribble, and the Douglas, can affect crossing times drastically, especially for slower boats.
  5. :lol: :lol: Well, crime dosent pay then.
  6. I take it you were suffering from acute verbal constipation when you jotted that down? If you really want to see people who are getting a free ride, pop down to Dukinfield Magistrates Court any day of the week, you only live around the corner. The object of what I said was pure debate, nothing more or less. Pure conjecture, to be discussed by like minded people in a friendly manner.
  7. Oh Dear. Sorry, I had you confused with something else.
  8. And how many boats have been so impounded, do you know of? Better still, how many boats have been impounded when people are living on them? I don't remember reading about the Act of Settlement forbidding the monarch (and by extension his/her family) from marrying a Catholic making many people laugh, nor giving anybody a hernia, (unless you count The Pope). I think that out-dates the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Act of 1784, if that's the one your referring to. Our whole legal system is based on these laws, and many people may be surprised just how many are still in force. Where do you think that BW got it's 14 day ruling from, The Beano? The 14.day 'In One Parish' rule is taken directly from the acts. Example 2: A certain gentleman had two boats, both on the Macclesfield canal, and both some years ago. Neither had a permanent place of mooring, so he played the rule, by moving them between the parishes of Congleton and Macclesfield. You will know one of the boats, it still hawks coal around the system. Never saw him once being served with a section 8 notice. At the end of the day, the whole matter rests on the strength of enforcement. You can have as many rules as you like, but as we all know, BW couldn't enforce a no cycling ban on the K&A, never mind a full blown clamp down on boaters mooring. I even know of cases where liveaboards have received the protection of the DHSS when BW have targeted them, AND delivered gas to the boats on a weekly basis, using DHSS vans! If you use your noggin, dont stay too long on visitor moorings, but keep out in the 'ooloo', you wont even see an enforcement officer, never mind get a ticket. They dont walk away from their cars very far.
  9. Yes, I have heard of Nationalisation, I was born about the same time it came in. And no, the above is not 'wholly inaccurate', otherwise I wouldn't have written it. Initial challenging an action is by the telephone, (also something that was Nationalised), and then in court. The ombudsman route is just a 'put off' to stall the nitty gritty. Here's an example of the power of the original canal acts. Boats moored in a certain marina on the Peak Forrest Canal by tradition had never required a licence when moored in the basin. BW decided to alter this, by stating that all boats on their water need to have a current licence. The boat owners took it further, and proved that the original owner of the basin paid no dues on his boats, on the understanding that he would build lime kilns at his own expense. This was enshrined in the act. Net result? The boat owners won, and still do not require a licence when moored in that basin.
  10. Ha Ha......I have a pound that says you wont hear a thing. It's a game called 'Official Paperwork That Means Nothing'
  11. BW have tried many times over the years to enforce their purges on boaters, and have always ended up where they started. They can scream, shout, send out their 'enforcement officers' (Martin Bormann allegedly trained a few), and post bits of paper on boats until they are blue in the face, but the fact stands that they are governed by the original Act's of Parliament that each individual canal was sanctioned by. Apart from regulating the price of "Ye tonne of coals to be carried", most said the same thing as far as the movement of boats were concerned, namely '14 days maximum in each Parish'. As has been discussed many times in these revered pages, the BW rules about moving so many lock miles blah blah, mean nothing, and are not legally enforceable, without a change to the act's of each canal that they wish to alter the rules for. The last time BW went to Parliament, (General Powers Act), they turned up with more amendments than you could shake a stick at. Result? They very nearly ran out of Parliamentary time, because such waterways stalwarts as Simon Greer off the Macc took his boat down to London, and attended every sitting, registering objections to all the clauses. BW walked away with the right of access to three feet of the non-towpath side of all canals, and very little else! So, if your sure of your rights, on the canal where you are, say 'nowt, and wait to see what happens. If they are daft enough to try something illegal, then go for the jugular. If they issue court proceedings, go, win, and claim your costs.
  12. Well, Moons Bridge will now only sell for non propulsion use, Pendle marine sells in cans, (no connection over tow-path.) Barton Grange Marina do a canal side pump out, but do not sell fuel, Arlen Boats is a hire base, with no access if you don't moor there, Bridge House Marina and Carnforth have stopped selling fuel altogether. Your right, however, that Glasson Basin DO sell diesel, but it's down six wide locks, which are closed when the water is low, as well as during the winter. (Glasson Basin serves river/sea traffic). The book you refer to is a walkers/historical publication, and is not meant to depict facilities, (unlike Nicholson's, but THATS 300 years out of date.) So back to the 'illegal' cans & garages then, I'm afraid. And really, who gives a b****r if the garage you take your cans to is acting 'illegally' or not. We have just had eleven pages of stuff about who is wrong or right over a percentage of whatever, mixed with those who suddenly produce dog collars and pulpits about what might be fiddling the tax man, and what might not. (Would these same people hand in a fiver they found on the towpath, I would ask?) Stuff the tax man, and all his garbage. Never has such a stupid set of unenforceable regulations been thought up as these, (except maybe the long gone 'window tax', or maybe the poll tax.) Even the C&E guy I was talking to a few weeks ago about this very subject agreed. As long as people don't put the (red) stuff into road vehicles, and many are, their not one jot interested in boats, or the contents of their fuel tanks. How many boats have been stopped canal-side in the last twelve months? Sorry peeps, but it's much ado about nothing, the net result of all the Government poo-hoo has been that many boat yards and marinas have stopped selling the red stuff, which is not only an inconvenience to us all, but a move that has made the risk of physical injury through toting heavy cans more likely. :lol:
  13. Which leaves the question wide open. If there are no supples of fuel on your canal, do you just punt the boat along, or do you use cans? As far as spillage is concerned, I have found that most of it seems to occur at (certain) hire yards on turnaround day. If you have already paid for the stuff, you tend to spend that extra bit of time and effort making sure you dont spill it. Unless things have changed, there always was a choice of fueling points on the North Oxford. Here theres nothing.
  14. All of our boating is done these days on the Lancaster. After many years on the system, we came up here about five years ago. Since the introduction of the 'new' taxation policy, the only yard selling red diesel on this canal will not sell for propulsion, all the others having given up fuel sales as to much trouble. This leaves us all running around the country to various garages, with a boot full of cans. Needles to say, garages are not concerned where your putting the stuff you are buying from them, nor are at all wise about red derv and boats, so you pay the pump price, and tip it into your boat. I initially registered a 80/20 split, (80 heating and generation, 20 propulsion), with no comebacks. Currently we are paying 50p a litre from a small garage we have found. So the question must be asked, if you are unable to buy your fuel canal-side from a boatyard/marina, and have to 'can around' in order to refuel, and the garages haven't got a clue, then are you breaking the law? 50p sounds cheap, until you add up the mileage getting the stuff by car.
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