The Dangers of Magnet Fishing and Thames Policing

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Harry Hogwash

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2 topics in one not entirely unrelated.
Magnet fishing as it is known is dangerous.
Very powerful magnets can break your fingers if they get inbetween.
Stuff on the bottom of rivers is rusty and junk and some idiot fished out
a WW2 grenade.
Its extremely unlikely one would find anything of value.
So forget all those Viking swords and roman hoards.
Folks who throw things in rivers are either litter louts of
criminals.
Its pure numpty greed.
Do you really want the hassle of dredging up live ammo or
unuseable weapons?
These people are a danger to us all and other boat users.
If you see them report them.
 
PS I first became aware of the precarious situation of Emergency Services or lack therefof
along The Thames Footpath when walking the Thames Path.
At one point I found myself in thick jungle with trees 300'tall
about 3 and a half miles from any other human being.
I was bound in by an uncrossable barbed wire fence on one side and the river on the other.
A narrow path about half a mile long.
The surrounding vegetation made approach by Vehicle or Helicopter across fields and jungle out of the question.
I carried no mobile phone.
The summer vegetation was so tall I could not be seen more than a few yards ahead.
Now I think a Thames Police launch patrol ends at Twickenham and there is none further downriver.
I would have been reassured spotting an inflatable Police dinghy cruising up and down at least.
But no.
No posters.No numbers for like Coastguard,nothing.
If it was at night that an emergency occurred multiply all this difficulty times 100.
It was at this point that the thought occurred to me in the still silence,"Crikey this is dangerous!"
 
My word ! Trees three hundred feet tall ! Those would be pinus silvestris specsaveritis then. And inflatable Police, too. Presumably instead of lifejackets.
 
Harry Hogwash said:
PS I first became aware of the precarious situation of Emergency Services or lack therefof
along The Thames Footpath when walking the Thames Path.
At one point I found myself in thick jungle with trees 300'tall
about 3 and a half miles from any other human being.
I was bound in by an uncrossable barbed wire fence on one side and the river on the other.
A narrow path about half a mile long.
The surrounding vegetation made approach by Vehicle or Helicopter across fields and jungle out of the question.
I carried no mobile phone.
The summer vegetation was so tall I could not be seen more than a few yards ahead.
Now I think a Thames Police launch patrol ends at Twickenham and there is none further downriver.
I would have been reassured spotting an inflatable Police dinghy cruising up and down at least.
But no.
No posters.No numbers for like Coastguard,nothing.
If it was at night that an emergency occurred multiply all this difficulty times 100.
It was at this point that the thought occurred to me in the still silence,"Crikey this is dangerous!"
Click to expand...

Wow! Just imagine-had something bad happened, your white bones, picked clean by scavengers, might have been found when the vegetation died back.

We would not have had the benefit of future posts from you...............................
 
Anybody tell me where to get a magnet that works with non ferrous materials such as lead and brass ?
There is probably a Nobel prize somewhere in there for whoever discovered that interesting new material. :):):)
Something discovered in CERN perhaps.
 
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oldgit said:
Anybody tell me where to get a magnet that works with non ferrous materials such as lead and brass ?
There is probably a Nobel prize somewhere in there for whoever discovered that interesting new material. :):):)
Something discovered in CERN perhaps.
Click to expand...
I believe the Pie Keys often use lead magnets on Church`s
 
I once got a canal boat caught on a submerged shopping trolley, I would have been very grateful to the magnet fishers who might have prevented this from happening!!!
 
Murv of this parish decided to go up to Maidstone with a recently purchased Tub 36.
With some skill and persistance he managed to collect something round his prop.
Later,popping his boat on the club drying blocks in order to investigate an interesting clonk clock sound, a short length of what was obviously shopping trolley remained wrapped round the the shaft.
The prop had simply chopped the trolley into small manageable bits.
The only damage was to a very non functioning rope cutter.
 
Thing is if some magnet fisher dredges up a Heinkel Bomb or something
like that the whole river stretch has to be closed whilst they sort it out.
Plus they may need to dive to see if there is further danger.
That could take weeks.
In fact one wonders how safe sailing along the Thames actually is.
Who knows what kind of ordinance got dropped or dumped there during WW2?
 
So presumably you give your 'SatNav'Position so they can find you?
Like pitch black 3 and half miles from any driveable track
hidden under a 3 mile long canopy of dense vegetation
with impassable barbed wire one side and yards of bank the other,
um like its sorta green and muddy.
The roots blcoking the hell hole path dont help as they
block bicycles though BIKE would be the best way in.
 
Harry Hogwash said:
So presumably you give your 'SatNav'Position so they can find you?
Like pitch black 3 and half miles from any driveable track
hidden under a 3 mile long canopy of dense vegetation
with impassable barbed wire one side and yards of bank the other,
um like its sorta green and muddy.
The roots blcoking the hell hole path dont help as they
block bicycles though BIKE would be the best way in.
Click to expand...

Is this in the Thames Valley, or Vietnamese jungle? It doesn't bear any resemblance to the riverbank I know.
 
CLB said:
Is this in the Thames Valley, or Vietnamese jungle? It doesn't bear any resemblance to the riverbank I know.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. My younger son often takes his Siberian Husky to Oxford on the train, returning along the Thames Path.

He writes poetry about his walks too. No mention of impenertrable jungle, but lots about the nice people he meets along the way.

Harry, did you see him? Perhaps you thought his dog Loki was a wolf and you hid.................................
 
This summer I saw one 'wierdo'chap wearing really strange garb.
It looked like a one piece flight suit ex army and he had an Australian hat on.
He carried a very large knobkerrie type stave and walked energetically talking to himself
like he was possessed.
About 6'2"
Saw him headed for the Thames path several times.
I just though
Yikes.
 
Well I suggest you don't know the riverbank very well.
This is no mowed grass towpath.
This is the stretch up near Thrupp Wilderness Radley.
Get it now?
 
Good question.Magnet fishing is relatively new and so is probably not yet named as such in any law.It is also relatively rare as its such a waste of time.
However there may be many laws around it that could be contravened.Its not quite like metal detecting but it is finding property-albeit on a public waterway-very likely with the intent to sell it without knowing who it belongs to.However Im sure the local nick wouldnt want it there!
Dredging up a loaded firearm puts you in line for armed tresspass for however long you have it.
Possession of knife ditto.
The Law doesnt always see it the magnet fishers way.
Stolen Bank Chests ditto.
If you dredge up a Heinkel Bomb and its blows half a bridge away
I hope your insurance is good.
So there are all these sorts of considerations.
So its kinda legal as long as nothing happens!
Bet theres not even a pound left in that rusty old supermarket trolley!
An old saying lift up a rock and find a toad.
 
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