Stove update - hopefully

Well I spent a good hour and a half emptying an 8 ton skip I have been loading over the past couple of weeks  - the reason this.....

I have been trawling the internet for a suitable replacement for the damaged back cabin stove on Percy, most were not in keeping and/or expensive. Rachel suggested a direct replacement which I had not considered as the original was a stove from a railway guards van. So I googled guard van stoves and eventually found a site that seems to sell 'new' stoves. As it is the Bank Holiday I have not yet received a reply but I have my fingers crossed. Not sure if they are replicas or from a large batch that were never fitted, regardless it is a direct replacement (would need painting black of course) and the old one was perfect looking and performing.

Why the skip diving.....well I brought the old stove back home hoping I could repair it but on closer inspection the area where the pipe connects was thin and on trying to remove the pipe the stove cracked away leaving a very big hole. So it all went into the skip  - first followed by a lot of garden rubbish and a bathroom suit plus four walls of tiling ! When I found this ad I realised the plate at the bottom was a special 'made' part by Tony Redshaw for Percy as was the door to the ash pit that was effective on controlling the burn. Both had gone into the skip with the stove so they were the bits I was after.

I did recover them after an hour of skip emptying so I am just waiting on the vendor to hopefully get in touch.

Prior to my skip diving I went over to Percy to check I had not left the 'door' on the boat as it was a little like looking for a 'needle in a haystack' or a 'bit of metal in a skip'. I had only left a small brass infill for the cooking area or pot warmer at the top and the bolts to fit it. It did give me a chance for the second mow of the grass and a 120 mile ride to the boat on my bike via Derbyshire and Staffordshire moorlands. Just got to give the bike a clean now !

I am lucky in that we (in University land) get the Tuesday off as part of Easter so I have some options for tomorrow:-

• Visit the boat and clear the fore cabin out...
• Carry on tiling the bathroom (in the house)...
• Clean and ride my motorbike...

What to do  !! - The tiles won !!