Roger t' Bodger

My thoughts exactly. Since the demise of Leicester Adventure Afloat there hasn't been anything to replace it in the city except for trip boats one day a year on the Mile Straight! Shameful.

A labour of love of piecing video this together from hours of indifferent or just plain awful footage taken in 1986 -88 by various people of many different trips the boats made. I've attempted to assembled the dispirate clips into a two day voyage aboard the boats by a host of people. A bloody shame it had to end as the urban kids had their eyes opened wide at an impressionable age making them more respectful to their environment. Make sure you've got refreshments close to hand - its a long one http://www.vimeo.com/14113027 At their peak :- 1989

Could this catch on? http://www.vimeo.com/13032928

In the 1960's the council created a dump on a middle section from untreated domestic waste as a cost cutting and land recovery exercise. Only suitable for recreation purposes due to methane, it has been used since to graze horses. Now with a grant from the Football Association (or such like) They can now afford to build a soccer complex with two pitches with massive floodlit towers to extend it's use and earning potential during the winter months. Surprisingly and especially after the great success of Engerland in the World Cup not many Leicester folk who treasure the place as an escape from the Urban Cage relish the idea. At all. This is poster two, exploring the possible realities of this money making scheme going ahead. There are no real planning objections that can be made except on grounds of public consultation or democracy and the council (it doesn't seem to matter who is in power) will roll it out regardless.

Jo Lodge of repro Hadar said this 2 hours ago on Facebook in reply to Mike Askin ruminating on his 1932 Royalty class Victoria's expensive repairs to the drive shaft after hauling 20 tons of gravel up from London to Atherstone. "That is the joys of owning an old boat. There is always going to be a never ending list of things that need to be done. BOAT stands for Bring Out Another Thousand". The best place is HBOC for a boat that someone couldn't keep up with financially. Expensive itch. My NBT motor cost £15 a year and a lot of computer work (in my case)

They look like Leicester Longhorns that were the first cattle to be bred using a genetic selective breeding program devised by George Bakewell of Dishley (near Loughborough) in the 1780's. They were part of the protein delivery system that sustained the the second Industrial Revolution from that time. The meat tended to be a bit fatty and became less popular in the mid victorian period where other cattle bred through similar programs to be less fatty became more popular with housewives. The longhorns can also be spotted south of Leicester in the fields behind the Kings Lock Tea Rooms where the city council have introduced them to break up the tussocks and allow the natural grasses to flourish. George Bakewell also bred the Leicester sheep which was the basis of flocks all over the world and help sustain colonies in Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Loughborough is well know in the antipodies because of this man. I'm not a geek, just the chap who made Dishley's village sign! mmmmm mint sauce or mustard. I was out filming the Leicester moos last month A nice place if you ignore the pylons - I did this poster to celebrate the water meadows

I'm finding it hard to insert a playing card inbetween all the points of view in this last 'Off Topic' of the 'Bash or Support the NBT' - the dedicated number of you, have between you, have got it nailed down to the dirt under the finger nails - congratulations! I really don't denegrate your procastinations as this was an important debate from all sides of the matter and lots who have read this long long long thread with have had food for thought - including me, who physically is out of the volunteering lark but can still stab a keyboard! Bless you all! Crikey! I'm running out of entertaining waterways videos and I can smell the family dinner starting to overcook above! It's on Uchube that most of you water-based bods find easier to watch Very dubious sentiment in the lyrics - but have things really changed that much? Oh no smoke!

Does the experienced Richard Horne have them adorning his working Town Class repro NB's? If he doesn't, than he is more than cool!

More like a floating shop!

All sound thoughts there. SH

I live 15 mins walk from the secure mooring in Leicester in a residents only parking zone where every 48 hours cost us £1 for visitors. As we live near the Infirmary our friends use our temporary permits to visit the spital. Its another option. It's good idea cos its a logistic and mental nightmare otherwise. Motorbike are good but that can mean more than one vehicle to get it all together.

Well, that's good news about the Newbury Waterside Festival, it doesn't surprise me that the boats are popular because few working boats are geared up to allowing the public on board. These local authority/IWA organised events are just as important to the Trust as the Braunston HNB event, in that you are illuminating the importance and facination of the national waterways to people who might not even realise there was a canal or river in their town. To link in with the volunteer aspect of this thread here's a video from last September showing local Leicester volunteers having a great jolly pulling out the stuff that all boaters hate and dread getting round their props. http://www.vimeo.com/6793020 It's one of my favourites videos and all I had to do was stand there for an hour making sure that the dogs (not mine) didn't piss on the camera

They really do.... And I take great pleasure in that they can, although I'm not involved on that side these days. As far as formal training is concerned I'm sure another active member on the council can reply to Pete Harrison's enquiry on that matter. I did go on a number of half day courses a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed them as they enriched the experience and increased my skills like splicing and tieing up. We've had one new inexperienced member on the current trip and she said it was very enjoyable. The dog has just come down - where's that peg? An exploding hound is too horrible to contemplate!

I've been out along the cut, so far today, trying to raise a few spondolics by selling my book about the Mile Straight in Leicester to passing boaters. But I reckon I missed them all as I didn't start until 10.30 and by then they had all fled through :-( I was amazed by the change at Lime Kiln Locks and Memory Lane Wharf where most of the gasworks and the Leicester College have been reduced to piles of fine rubble. Will anything replace it all? I'm sure the old hound dog will come down later and let loose with a number of those silent smelly ones. Arrrgh! gag choke!

Well said, I've worked mostly in the voluntary sector all my life and I can't disagree with a word of that - especially the last sentence.

Sorry we are out of sync. It hasn't happen yet thank God and I can't think of where that has happen in my experience but I would have thought that an official inquiry would create a situation where if the person proved to be clearly to blame then it would be an issue of who was in charge and responsible for the overall situation to whether it was a organisational failing or the the person who caused the incident was to blame through a apparent lack of training or individual reckless behaviourthat logically ingores that training and guidelines. There's nowt as strange as folk - including the legal profession.... I must escape the dog Night

I'm a bit out of salts today, due to another lousy night, so clear joined up thinking about anything is hard. Sorry about 'choo choos' but I only throw that at people who think these things are the 'bees knees' to the exclusion of all else.... So time for another video, in fact the second one I ever made with 'proper' editing. I was trying to capture the essence of the experience with the recorded soundtrack but there was so many distracting noises; human, wind and otherwise that the band I saw shortly before, were drafted in (and credited) to supply it instead. Goodnight from the cellar- Oh god! the dogs farted again! http://www.vimeo.com/10950303

I think that if someone really caused an accident on the cut either as due to being an incompetent boater or volunteer, the trauma would make them think again about going near a boat in the future unless they were a totally irresponsible arsehole and in the NBT that would be picked up immediately and they would be told to either change, train or seek their joliies elsewhere. And you know the cut, the word would quickly get around. The NBT doesn't select members for their appitude or socialbility but they don't last long if they don't fit in. I know NBT members who by no fault of their own have got into difficulties with no injuries to anyone and have mentally beaten themselves up by themselves for years hence thus slowing their learned confidence and abilities. Thats life without lines to guide.... I'm not quite sure myself

I was a dedicate railway enthusiast (along with traction engines and buses) for many years because there was sod all all else to cut me teeth on in sodding Essex where all steam was eradicated in 1957. I was a member of the Coln Valley Railway and help to restore signalling, the station and help through my dad to recover essential signalling equipment from the industrial lines of the Becton Gas Works and Royal Docks of London. I was also an an award winning railway modeller with features in the Railway Modeller Magazine. Then I discovered sex, drugs and rock & roll (through my mates at art college) with help from my neighbour Ian Dury. I'm not saying that was the best way forward but it wasn't really as antisocial as being an arsehole. Why did I turn my back on railways? Cos it was full of meticulous rivet counters. Life is too short for that - well, my life is now!

Its still well defined rules with clear boundaries. It's not like that on the cut today with all sorts taking their holiday 'motor' out without an knowledgable imprint of which side to pass on! As I say railway lines are easy to impose rules thats why they were sooooo successful! Anyone can learn to do it if they have the desire or aptitude on rail or on the cut. Its just that it isn't broken down into little roles like it is on the railways.

Trains/choo choos/steam engines/locomotives/rolling stock/carriages/trucks etc run on delicious railway tracks with points! So it's just a matter of organisation and straight forward training. Narrow boats thought, can only move along what available water there is and there are a multitude of variables of circumstances plus far more physical effort. So thus to become proficient at being a steerer/skipper/captain and commanding a crew and two boats can take some time - especially if you don't do it everyday. Lots of balls to juggle with. Some learn quicker, some learn slower. No signals, no lines and not just an engine driver. I like trains but there was always something about boats that attracted me from a very early age..... Is it the self determination?

Other than the PVC cloths we've got nothing better....:-( Anyway how many films can I make of the Trust when I'm stuck here in Lesta! I though it was awizz idea to introduce music to kids wiv recycled instruments - all free!

This is the one from my personal collection! http://www.vimeo.com/12287914 You can lick it out But only if you must - stuff taste racid!

This is the wrong film!

Crikey! This getting silly! Didn't they all die in the League of Gentlemen? But then what can be more sheltered than that of a cellar with a farting dog? Back to some level of morality! Film Time! The Lesser and More Absorbing Christian Film Unit has threaded and tutted over the film projector so back some form of o normality! And you at the front, stop figgeting! Amongst those captured in this video are some, but not all by any means, of those who present some of the wobblers and shakers of the NBT! God forbid! Refreshments will be served after the talk on personal and moral cleanliness. http://www.vimeo.com/3777250 Stop it now!