Boaty Jo

Foulridge. 18 years since my first visit in 2006, it's great to see that this terrific business is still thriving. The guy who served me said he'd started working there just before my first visit. I'm older, porkier and on a bike rather than a boat, but just as enthusiastic about good grub. I bought some 'surprise' sausages. 'A mixture of all the others we make,' he said. 'People love them'. They were delicious and judging by all the folk who came and went as I chatted with the butcher, the shop really is doing nicely. Ingham's only equal as we travelled on the boat (IMO of course) was the one in Alrewas. Coates is it called?

Thanks everyone, very interesting. Funnily enough, in our Dutch talk, we mention the Amsterdam Ordnance Datum or Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP).

Can anyone tell me what this is / represents? If it makes a difference it was up on the Leeds / Liverpool near Foulridge.

I asked C&RT if they would you like a volunteer anywhere? Bit of help locking perhaps? Certainly sir, we have just the one for you.

Have you actually been on a boat? You do need a degree of fitness to cruise and look after yourself living aboard. We did about 12years, but if we were starting now, we simply wouldn't be able to manage the physical side to the same extent. Keep a shore-based safety net if I were you. That way, if you choose to finish boating, say in 5 years, you can do it. But if you are forced off by health / injury and have no plan B, that would be unpleasant.

Richard Vobes here

Mmmm?

The old burnt-out mill near Summit on the Rochdale has shed half a dozen courses along part of it's length. Some big stones have come down. I saw the top leaning somewhat only the day before as I walked past. The road is closed for now but not sure about the canal. Worth a call to CART if you're thinking of travelling.

At my step-daughter's place up in Cumbria. Delightful creatures.

Did I even have a filter with the gulper, don't think so.

Did you buy a knock-off? Mine, sized according to me, is high quality and very comfortable. £1,600 with foot-stool.

Another way to look at it being a buyers market is that it's a good time to shift a suspect boat at an inflated price without survey.

Don't know about the Garonne but the Lateral a La Loire is part of the north / south Route Bourbonnais linking the Seine to the Saone and Rhone and in 2010 / 2012 there was 'some' commercial traffic. But if push comes to shove is there enough commercial stuff these days to justify the maintenance spend? Don't know. There used to be a fair amount of hotel boat traffic down the southern end, the Canal du Centre. The other north south routes, which hopefully they'll keep maintaining are the Champagne Bourgogne down the centre and the Canal des Vosges in the east (formerly Canal de L'est) though that seems to struggle for water. For example the branch to Epinal seems to be closed regularly. The Ardennes and Ainse, further north and east / west canals, were choked with weed in places back in 2014 but very rural and pretty. I suspect we've seen the best of both French and UK waterways, funding for both is a huge issue with the financial hole we're in. Similar now I suspect but back in 2008 Dutch canals, used extensively for commercial traffic, were both well maintained and licence free (though both they and Belgium are hot on boat safety).

Signed. Even a partial closure would be a great shame. Last time we did it in about 2012, parts of it were creaking and weedy. One lock-keeper even lent me his pristine red, double-tined fork so I could shift some weed while he took partook of lunch! St. Jean to Dijon is rather 'plain' (apart from the lock pound lined with walnut trees) but thereafter it is wonderful. The problem, at least in part, is probably the lack of commercial traffic, apart from the hotel boats. It's more of a cross-country route than a north-south through route.