There are occasions when I get a message and photo that causes me to drop everything and get in the car and drive. The attached photo, received a while ago, was one such occasion. There are some that will say they know the problem and I could have dealt with it by messenger but things are not always as simple as they first seem.

It's been a bit over fifty years since I first stood in the derelict house alongside Shipton Weir lock on the Oxford Canal. The love of all things waterways related started there, and I feel I did the long gone building some justice by letting it live again in my fictional writing. To fall for one moribund structure is probably not that bad a thing for a ten year old but I now find, at the age of sixty-two, that something pretty similar has happened.

On the 30 October 1880, a 23 year old boatman named Thomas Ames stands calmly in Bristol Assizes. He is accused of murder and if he is found guilty, he will surely hang. In an unusual turn of events, he does not. He is charged with manslaughter and sentenced only to 7 years in prison. He takes this information "stolidly" and leaves walking "firmly". It's like he doesn't care that a child is no longer on this earth because of him, and in all probability, he doesn't.

Hello everyone and welcome to my latest column for, CanalsOnline Magazine. I hope you’ll indulge me just this once. When I started writing for the magazine some months back now I promised that we take a look together at what was just beyond the normal ‘canal-scape’  - which I hope that in some small measure we have managed to do.

Before we start, some terminology. When connecting batteries together to form a bank the cables between the batteries are called loops.

The best way to connect batteries together is a way that makes sure that the power is drawn from and sent to all the batteries in a bank identically, so that all the batteries get used equally and charged equally and live their full lives. Incorrectly wired banks cause batteries to have a shortened life.

This time the Inter tidal topic is all about a true inter tidal zone in the North West of England, with Canal and River and walking and cycling and an historic Pub! Accessible from the River Mersey and PART of the Sankey Canal and road and Trans Pennine Trail. I say part of the canal, as unfortunately the canal is not linked end-to-end to the canal network. Arguably the oldest canal, but still suffering from the ravages of earlier 'filling in' and disuse in parts.

How about that for a February then folks? Did you break out the flip flops and the sun tan lotion? A lot better than last year don’t you think? The ‘Beast from the East’ was about to come roaring through if you remember. Mind you, I think we brought that upon ourselves to a great extent and that we ought to pay better attention to our use of rhyming couplets. Naming it 'The Least from the East’ might have lessened its impact. Or better still, reducing it to a fungal infection, ‘The Yeast from the East,’  would surely have resulted in warmer weather - albeit a little itchy.

As the weather begins to warm and more boaters get their ‘babies’ out of hibernation ready to cruise the cut, I thought I’d share with you a little snippet of ‘Breaking News’ I’ve come across.

Many of you ‘old hands’ at the tiller (hopefully all of you!) will be familiar with the Considerate Boater on Willow Wren Training’s website. If you’re not, or are new to cruising the canals, please take a look.