Like you, we're also considering a secondhand shed if it's the right size/shape/quality, as empty shells seem to be few and far between.

Do you get all the canal mags? Loads of info in there about available moorings etc.

Our budget is small! Overall, we've got about £50k - £60k to spend on the final project, including any fitting out that the boat needs. So we're probably looking at no more than £20k for a shell. Thanks for the offer to keep an eye open for us.

Who'd have thought a Labour government would privatise anything?

I would have to look into the matter more deeply before I form an opinion - in theory privatisation could actually enhance the waterways, but let's face it - that was the idea behind selling off the railways. You'd think folks would learn from history but alas it's never so.

H, write to Gordon Prentice and raise the matter with him.  If enough of us do it the message will get through.  The root of the matter is the deep doo-doo Defra is in because Big Gordon refused to give them funding to clear up the Single Farm Payments mess and so Defra are desperate for savings to finance themselves.  Blame Margaret Beckett, it happened on her watch!  (and then we put her in charge of the Foreign Office.....)

Privatisation is basically an accounting exercise of the "smoke and mirrors" type. The Government flogs off some valuable assets in return for a quick up front payment . Most of this soon disappears in payments to redundant staff and "unforseen extras"  due to the sloppy way the contracts are drawn up. The rest of the "value for money" comes from alleged "jam tomorrow" long-term savings. Tomorrow in this case means several elections away and after the perpetrators have taken their knightoods and run.

If you are really unlucky like my current Lords and Masters, you will find out too late that your buildings - dedicated to extracting Revenue for the public purse, have been flogged off cheap to an offshore company. Readers of Private Eye will remember that one.

I bet the private company interest in the waterways will be particularly intense in the area of their property holdings in view of the proposed relaxations in planning procedures. Let's hope the Government get deflected by the public outcry.

I sincerely hope he isn't looking this way, otherwise my early-retirement might come even earlier than I had bargained for!

In Staff Training circles the euphemism for telling the truth is called "attitude leakage". As my dear Granny would have said: "don't get me started on that, I've only come 'ere for a rest!"

Malcom

Are you particularly interested in canal boats or were you just browsing this topic? I would love to hear your experiences/opinions etc.

We were remarking only t'other day that our decision to live on a barge is possibly a wise move. No worries about flooding!