Having just spend two very nice weeks over Christmas + New Year travelling from Blisworth to Oxford and back I did notice on the Oxford Canal an impressive lot of boats where - despite the lack of (valid) licences displayed I wondered why and how long they would remain afloat.

The really intriguing thing to me was that quite a few (at least a dozen) showed definite signs of habitation (smoke from the chimney, washing hanging out). Two boats definitely had been partly burned out but where still / again lived in.

Not believing this to be safe I wonder about things like BSC etc? Every one to their own, but this looks like sooner or later accidents will occur with the risk of even life lost.

Anyone in the know?

I'm often intruiged by the boats moored near the winding point not far from Braunston Puddle Banks, some of which have been there for years. This colony is slowly spreading, and although a firm believer in people doing their own thing I do wonder sometimes whether BW ever walks along that stretch to check that the licences are current. There is one boat there which for a number of years has been conspicuous by the bilge pump outlet pipe sticking over the side and which pumps copious amounts of water whenever a boat passes. I suspect that this boat has been sitting on the bottom for a long time.

Regards

Howard Anguish