Wardle Lock Cottage

I was just about to come on here this evening to say that things are now moving in the right direction for me, but notice that Nick himself (CB Ed) had beaten me to it. It appears that I might have fallen into the cracks, but once Nick was aware of the situation, he's sorting it out.

Has anyone else ever had any problem getting a payment from Canal Boat Magazine for anything that they have had published? I submitted my 'Me and My Boats' story to Canal Boat magazine a few months ago, and it was published in the August print edition (on sale in July) and has now appeared on their website. Since it has been published, I have had no communication from them, and more importantly for me, I have not received the promised payment from them. I have sent numerous emails that have gone unanswered, phone messages are not returned and I am starting to get quite frustrated by them. Any similar experience, advice or comment would be greatly received.

A quick update on Wardle Lock Cottage,Middlewich: We have moved from Sheffield and are now living in Middlewich, just down to road from the cottage. Listed Building Consent has been granted for the alterations we are making and I am now there most days working on the cottage. However it will still be a long process to complete the renovations to the cottage to enable it to be a comfortable home for a 21st century family. We have mentally given ourselves a year to get it to a stage that we can move into it Any questions,or comments,please feel free to reply here. Thanks

Firstly, Let me re-introduce myself. I'm Dave, the owner of the cottage, along with my wife and 2 young children. We are still fully intending it to be our family home as and when we can get the rennovations completed. As PPs have said, it is a long and involved process, of which I have made a start. The work is being done between paid work for both me and my wife and our family life. It was never going to be a quick process. Work stopped at the end of last summer when I arranged a visit from the Council to discuss moving some walls etc. Listed Building Consent has to be obtained for any further work and this is taking time. I don't think that any applications will show on the council planning website as we don't need Planning permission for any of the immediate changes we are proposing. The cottage was broken into last summer and all heating and water pipes along with most of the electric cabling were stolen. This has significantly hindered progress, particularly through the winter. I've not been there often over the winter as there is little I can do at the moment. A couple of the neighbours, Middlewich Narrowboats and NB Alton all have my contact details, as do the local police. We didn't know about this break-in until several days after this. In future, could anyone please report any suspicious occurences or criminal damage to the police immediately. If you ever see anyone there, please talk to them, if it's me or my family, we'd be more than happy to meet you. The cottage does now have an alarm fitted, so that should deter most of the scrotes. If any of you would like to offer any help, please get in touch, and I'll let you know when I need you. Thanks

Graham, 03... numbers are charged at the same rate as 01 & 02 numbers and will be included in any 'free' minutes you have. Agree that SayNoTo0870 is a useful resource, but also try 0800 Wizard (available as a free app for smartphones) or 0800 Buster (free online). These gives you an 01/02/03 number to call instead. Hope this helps Dave

Hi all, I'm now well into the process of renovating Wardle Lock Cottage and am beginning to think (seriously) about putting it back together again to be our family home. I have uncovered a chequered history of the house solely from the structure of the building and have read a lot about Maureen Shaw on here and elsewhere on the web. I am now interested in trying to gather some information about the history of the building in its wider context. I've seen some of the photos that Middlewich Town Council hold in their archives and will be having further conversations with their heritage officer. Does anyone know much about the history of the building itself and of its previous occupants? (Maureen is already fairly well documented) When were any of the 'add-ons' to the building done? Do any of you have any old photos you'd be happy to share with me please? I'm particulalrly interested in ones looking at it from the top side of the lock. Thanks Dave