IT has been a complaint of boatersfor many years that the Canal &

River Trust, and British Waterwaysbefore it, didn't do enough to dealwith persistent over-stayers, thoseboats which seem to haunt thesame short stretch of visitor moor-ings for months, sometimes years.In recent weeks there has been a flurry ofaction, apparently aimed at rectifying thatissue – at least as far as continuously cruis-ing boats are concerned. But is it a solutionfor London that needs to be looked at againon other parts of the system?Put simply, C&RT has adopted a policy ofmonitoring continuous cruisers more closelyand sending regular reminders to those theydon't think are moving far enough. Thoseboaters who 'consistently failed to move inaccordance with the Trust’sGuidance,'won't get another licence unlessthey find a home mooring.That will then give CRT the power toremove the subsequently unlicensed boatcompletely, even if it is someone's home. The heart of the problem is how far is farenough and the Trust like BW before it hasclearly spent many hours trying to come upwith a definition that doesn't contravene the1995 legislation, which contains no require-ment to travel a minimum distance or to fol-low any specific cruising pattern beyondthe 14-day stay limit. In a recent Questionand Answer session C&RT admitted settinga specific distance was beyond its legalpowers.Instead it has come up with guidance thatthe necessary movement is from one'neighbourhood' to another, that continu-ously cruising boats have to go from neigh-bourhood A to B to C and not back to Aunless they are reversing the direction oftravel on a genuine cruise or reach the endof a waterway.So, what is a ‘neighbourhood?’ CRT says it 'will vary from area to area – ona rural waterway a village or hamlet may bea neighbourhood and on an urban water-

way a suburb or district within a town orcitymay be a neighbourhood.' It says it is not possible (nor appropriate) tospecify distances that need to be travelled.What has changed, apart from some revi-sions to the Terms and Conditions of thelicence to enhance C&RT's powers, is thatthe Trust will be monitoring CCers moreclosely, using the GRP systems of its datagatherers and deciding whether they meet

its interpretation of the 1995 Act.If they don't retribution is threatened to beswift and devastating for boaters whoseboat is their home.Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal& River Trust, said: “The right for boaters tocontinuously cruise is enshrined in law, andI welcome this way of boating. Our newapproach does not change any rules, but itdoes seek to provide greater encourage-ment to everyone to comply with ourGuidance, and spells out the consequencesif they consistently don’t.“In many cases, making some small adjust-ments to a cruising pattern is enough tomeet our Guidance, while in other casestaking up a home mooring may be moreappropriate. Ultimately we are trying to helpboaters understand our requirements andavoid running into trouble, for the benefit ofall boaters.”Whilst some boater organisations havegiven the new policy a cautious welcomean online petition calling for the Trust to beprevented from evicting liveaboard boatersfrom their homes has gathered 10,000 sig-natures and the very active National BargeeTravellers Association (NBTA) opposes thenew policy and promised to take 'whateversteps are necessary to defend bargeetrav-ellers against this new attack on the right touse and live on a boat without a homemooring'. It claims “CRT is effectively proposing toevict thousands of live-aboard boaters with-out home moorings from its waterways. “Ifboats are overstaying, CRT already has suf-ficient enforcement powers,” says NBTA. “Itis not within CRT's legal powers to enforceits draconian new policy. It sets require-ments that go beyond the BritishWaterways Act 1995. “The 2013 judgement in the case of CRT vMayers confirms that it would be unlawfulfor CRT to set a minimum distance thatcontinuous cruisers must travel to complywith the law.”

Continued on page two

IISSUESSUE 38 - M38 - MARCHARCH 20152015

Overstaying blitz

INSIDE THIS ISSUEWinter boating fun for youngsters page twoRoses and Castles rule page threeThe problem of selling too many boats page four

Empty moorings in Gas St

Birmingham - the heart of the canal

system - clearly overcrowding is not

a national issue

But is it overkill outside London wherescrapping 48hr in winter means more

Norbury News 2

Winter boatingfun for young

BargainsBargains

DIESELDIESEL- Our fuel is- Our fuel isthe cheapthe cheap--est at aest at acommercialcommercialboatyardboatyardon theon thewaterways -waterways -and FAMEand FAMEfree. It canfree. It canchange on achange on aweeklyweeklybasis but itbasis but itis now at: is now at:

BATTERIESBATTERIES- - 110amphr110amphrbatteriesbatteriesJUST JUST

each wheneach whenyou buy fouryou buy fouror more inor more inthe samethe sametransaction.transaction.£69.00 each£69.00 eachif soldif soldsingly.singly.ECOFANSThe originalThe originaland best fanand best fanfor yourfor yourstove just stove just

69.9p

£64.95

£114.50

Continued from page one

It certainly seems that C&RT has arrived at it'sown definition of how far is far enough but hasdone so without making Continuously Cruisingboaters aware of what that figure is.That is something that will delight some boatingorganisations, especially those concerned withapparent overcrowding in London and theWestern End of the Kennet and Avon Canal.But what will this new enthusiasm for movingboaters on have on the more tranquil and lesscrowded parts of the system, such as theShropshire Union?Simon Jenkins, Managing Director of NorburyWharf, based at the heart of that canal, said: “Weall know boats that seem to never move,although I am far from convinced they are allContinuous Cruisers.“We look after a lot of boats without a homemooring at Norbury and the vast majority travellong distances, especially in the summer months.“I can see that something probably needs to bedone in London and around Bath where over-crowding seems to be a problem and dealingwith persistent offenders is desirable, although

making more moorings available and buildingmore facilities would also make compliant cruis-ing easier.“However, on the Shroppie and most other ruralcanals, there really isn't much of a problem and Ifeel C&RT need to take a more regionalapproach, combined with a longer-term view of aboater's cruising pattern. If someone travels hun-dreds of miles a year then it would be petty toinsist they move from a 'neighbourhood' in 14days if they are complying with any local mooringtime limits.“In fact the most positive thing the Trust hasdone is to recognise that short-term mooringsare unnecessary in winter and decreed 48-hourand other shorter limits will revert to 14-daysbetween the start of November and the end ofMarch.“This will benefit local canalside businesses likeourselves, the shops and the pubs asContinuous Cruisers are almost the only trafficusing our services in those months. It would becontradictory to harass those boaters who gen-uinely travel much of the year but want slowdown in winter so they can enjoy a leisurelysaunter along the Shroppie.”

‘... vast majority travel long distances’

POTENTIAL boaters ofthe future are learning

that boating can be year-round fun as, for the thirdyear running a Blackpoolyouth organisation tookthree boatloads of young-sters on a seven dayadventure from NorburyWharf.Boathouse Youth are regularhirers of Norbury's boatsand the firm's ManagingDirector, Simon Jenkinssaid: It was fantastic to seethree boats, including thelatest addition to our fleet,Pandora, loaded with kidsover the half term period. Ido think that these sort oforganisations really needsupporting as they have thepotential to create futureboaters of the canals.”Boathouse Youth says itsaim is to help every child

and young personreach their individualpotentials by remov-ing barriers andrestrictions to newchallenges andexperiences. The February half-term adventure

involved the club's BronzeDuke of Edinburgh Awardgroup who took the threeboats north on ShropshireUnion Canal and up theLlangollen as far asEllesmere as a team-build-ing activity. The organisers and theyoungsters insist it was'great fun' despite theFebruary weather.

Locking up

Alfresco music on the

cabin roof -in February!

Putting latest addition Pandora through her paces

Norbury News 3

Get afloatGet afloatand tryand try

the fun ofthe fun ofboatingboating

Take a tripTake a tripon Victory,on Victory,

Defiant,Defiant,Bounty - ourBounty - ourday boats forday boats for

10 people.10 people.You canYou can

enjoy up toenjoy up to17 miles of17 miles of

the beautifulthe beautifulShropshireShropshireUnion canalUnion canal

with no lockswith no locksand 6 pubs! and 6 pubs!

Or stayOr stayashore inashore inour cosyour cosycottagecottagehomehomefromfromhomehome

MOOR at Norbury and yourboat will be at the heart of

one of the prettiest and mostpopular canals in the country.Go North and you are in therolling countryside ofStaffordshire and Shropshirewith small market towns andpretty villages.There are some of those on the

way sout, too, but you alsohave the fascination of Britain’ssecond city, the vibrant andever-changing Birmingham.Add in the fact that you have aproper working boatyard andtheir highly skilled staff immedi-ately to hand, for all yourrepairs, fuel and other essen-tials, and it is easy to see why

Norbury doesn’t often havevacancies.The start of the year meansthere are a couple of moorersheading for pastures new so if itsounds like your sort of moor-ing, online and in a short arm,call the office to check on thedetails.

A place in the country with everything

GAS Street in Birmingham isusually seen as the heart of

the canal system - so a seriousleak in the canal there, pouringinto a disused railway tunnel, iscausing some problems.When the leak was first spootedduring a routine inspection of thetunnel there were fears that acatastrophic collapse wouldsend water from the 50-milepound cascading towards NewSt Station.

However the affected sectionhas now been drained and theCanal &River Trustis workingwith con-tractors todecidewhat theproblem is,how bestto fix itand how

long that will take. Current bet-ting is several weeks.

A hole in the canals’ heart

There is somethingabout the hand-painted

decoration of ordinaryobjects in the historicstyle of the canals thatattracts many peopleOften called ‘roses and castles’the designs feature other flow-ers, cottages, churches, riversand lakes - anything that couldbe part of a romantic landscape.In the past the designs coveredvirtually everything in or on thenarrowboat – including the ves-sel itself. The drinking can, thehorse’s harness, doors, fittedfurniture, lamps, anything andeverything was decorated withbright and cheerful chocolate-box designs.It is not known exactly where theRoses & Castles movement orig-inated. There are obvious linkswith Romany culture and theirelaborately painted caravans,but historians have also identi-fied similarities with folk art fromGermany, Holland and evenAsia. The reason for its popularity andgrowth with working boat fami-lies is tied to the limited size ofthe boat cabin, the pride of theboat people and the competitionbetween the canals and the rail-ways.

The wives and other women folkof the boatmen were determinedto make every item bright andattractive. With brightly painted romanticlandscapes adorning every avail-able surface, crocheted lacehanging in the cabin and every-thing scrubbedand polished, theboat men andwomen displayedtheir pride in theirtrade and createdsolidarity with theirfellow boaters.These days thecraft is undergoingsomething of arenaissance and

Norbury’s excellent Canalware ispainted by Tim Yorke who start-ed painting roses and castlesafter buying his first narrowboatfrom us in 2006. He went on a course with DaveMoore to learn the art.

Roses and Castles ruleCanalware is a tradition that attracts boaters and visitors alike

Contractors chatting above

the pumped out section

Norbury News 4

Boats for saleBoats for sale

Cloud NineAs the name of the boat suggests, the new owners will be on'Cloud Nine' when they own this beauty. Cloud Nine is a 62 footlong traditional stern narrow boat built by Alexander narrow boatsand fitted out by Sandhills Narrowboats - a little known fit outcompany of exceptional standards.Although the boat is a trad it has a very large rear slide whichonce open reveals a large deck area where there is ample roomfor a couple of people to stand/sit with ease. Under the woodendecked area is a Beta 43HP cocooned engine, this engine issuper silent and also has the benefit of a 240V generator (TravelPower) coupled to the engine, aswell as the usual alternators forthe 12 volt system. The boat has an impressive electrical invento-ry, including inverter, land line, 12v/240v battery charger and gal-vanic isolator. The boat has been seriously designed for eitherlong term cruising, living aboard or indeed cruising with guests.

£54,950

WilliamA 56 foot cruiser built by Hancock and Lane. The rear cabin has adouble bed, wardrobe space, and plenty of storage under the bed.The shower compartment has a pump out toilet, shower andhandbasin. The galley has the usual appliances and a large 12 voltfridge and freezer.The large open plan saloon, has front doors leading out onto thefront deck and the boat is heated via a solid fuel stove with backboiler as well as a Alde gas boiler. There is a 240 volt externalhook up,an inverter,and battery charger.The boat is powered by an excellent running 3 cylinder Lister aircooled marine diesel engine which was removed in 2010 andrebuilt, last serviced in August 2014, the boat comes with docu-mented service history since 2007. Last hull survey 2007.

£25,500.00

Maid of Avoca - 23ft all steel cruiser built by Springer engineer-ing, powered by an inboard twin cylinder diesel engine, doesrequire some work internally. £6,500

REF 10339

Ichthus - 57ft semi trad stern built by Cheshire boat company,powered by a Vetus diesel, professionally repainted in 2007,docked in 2012 for blacking. £26,999

REF: 10340

REF 10337

TUG- 20ft 'Bantam style'pusher tug. Poweredby a three cylinder aircooled Deutz engine.Hydraulic drive -motor recently serv-iced. Two winchesand ropes to the frontwhich are in excellentcondition. Dockedand blacked.

£9,999.

REF: 10297Crew:36ft unpoweredwelfare/work boat. Cabinat rear with bench seat-ing, worktop with sinkand space for a multifuelstove. Toilet compartmentand tool store. Largeopen hold. The hull ofthis boat has been over-plated.

£4,999

REF: 10296

ReF 10349

DuchessA 47ft all steel cruiser stern narrowboat built by WessexNarrowboats in 2000. She is powered by a three cylinder Barrusengine with PRM150 hydraulically operated gearboxwhich was fitted new in 2008. From entering the cabin at the stern is the fixed double bed withwardrobes at the foot of the bed. Next comes the shower roomwith full sized shower, pump out toilet and vanity basin. Following this is the galley which is fitted with a four ring gasburner, grill/oven, stainless steel sink and drainer and 12v fridge.At the front of the cabin is the saloon with a fixed seat on eachside which can be used as two single beds or converted to onelarge double. Heating is provided by a Webastodiesel heater which feeds theradiators throughout the cabin.This boat has been well maintainedand is ready to cruise.

£29,950

REF: 10346

Boats hardly arrive with us for sale before theyhave

gone again, we are literally selling them faster than

we can re-stock.

If you want a quick sale for your vessel why not get in

touch with us at Norbury Wharf?

Our brokerage rates and service are difficult to beat -

we charge just 5% + VAT of the sale price to sell your

boat with a minimum charge of £1,250.00 + VAT.

We offer a six month rolling contract, when your boat

will be advertised in most major waterway publications

and on the internet. We will also advertise your boat at

our busy location where we have an extremely high

through-put of potential buyers.

Moorings are free whilst your boat is for sale. Our com-

bined knowledge of living on boats and the sale of them

is extensive and our friendly team are always here to

help make the process very easy for both buyers and

sellers alike. All monies are handled securely through

our escrow accounts.

Interested? Then contact Simon or David now on 01785

284292 alternatively email us on:

info@norburywharfltd.co.uk