Has Canal and River Trust gone mad!!

Had an interesting conversation with a boat trader here at Brum. You may have met him on his boat Hakuna Matata. First he elaborated on what Captain Ahab (and Adam) had told me in a comment yesterday about the new railings put along the narrows by the Canalside pub. It was done because of the jumpers (no not the wooly kind) who tried to leap across the water, and also those that kept jumping on the trip boats as they went past. Many an item from the boats were taken by these idiots as well as damage caused and one nearly ending up dead as he missed his footing and fell between the boat and the bank. The captain of the trip boat could only knock it out of gear and look on in horror, as reversing would have squashed him for sure. It was only the onlookers that saved his bacon by keeping the boat away from the side. Since that incident, and those that thought it a laugh to jump from one side to the other, the railings had been put up.

Then another interesting snippet of information was forthcoming. This time about the signs on bridges asking cyclists to dismount. They no longer exist on the Farmers Bridge flight or many others bridge supports around Birmingham. Instead these stupid signs about 'Share This Space' stenciled on the ground. Exactly how many cyclist look down when they race along the towpath??? Most of the stencils have been worn away so how long before no signage exists at all??? Sorry C&RT but I think you have lost the plot!! Cycling under bridges at the speeds they go at, is in my opinion madness.  It's about time you start to listen to us boaters who do put money into your coffers, instead of those idiot cyclists who don't care a hoot about the public and don't pay a penny!

Notice how faded those toward the bridge has got. And what is the duck all about????

Signs asking the cyclist to dismount.......gone!

 On a lighter note, we stayed in Brum instead of moving on. It gave us a chance to wash the roof and sides and for Ian to install a new shaver socket in the bathroom. Mould was discovered in the cupboard above the bed. He wanted to run the cables through the back of it and into the bathroom. Good job he decided he needed a shaver socket now 'cause we may never have discovered that mould until it was to late. We know what it's like to have black mould. It's a devils own job to remove it.

The NIA is now revamped and has been renamed the Barclay Card Arena