hughc

It used to be possible to wind a full length boat before the tunnel. We have in the past done so with a variety of such. BW then placed gabions on the offside to support the bank. Instead of setting these into thebank and so preserving the full width they were set in the cut reducing the length of boat that could be turned.

For anyone faced with a similar problem I have found that Liquid Moly Pro-Line Injector and glowplug dismantling fluid is highly effective. Whilst working on a variety of vintage engines , some of which were in a very rusted condition , I have used a variety of methods. Prior to using Liquid Moly the best commercial product has been Plus Gas but this is better. I have no connection with this company other than has a retail customer but I am very, very impressed with this product. However it's not cheap.

All the services we pay for should be on the offside. CART should offer contracts to existing fuel and contracting companies to service them. Managed properly it would be cheaper and more efficient and keep boats working.

Norway

Eventually less than at present. A phased introduction , i.e. only close one when a new one is agreed, and contract the existing fuel boat operators to do the maintenance. Couple that with new pattern keys or swipe cards only available with the purchase of a licence and the problem of free loaders would disappear. Boat based maintenance would result in more deep draft passages which would improve the channel for everyone. Vandalism, either real or imaginary, should reduce if the sites are carefully chosen so that land access is difficult. If CaRT cannot afford it then the local canal societies could step in and build them as the ECP&DA did at Langley Mill.

Put services on the offside and maintain them by boat not Biffa.

St. Mary's Bridge, Derby. The arm off the main line back into the Derwent above the Markeaton Brook weir. One of a series of prints This one shows the medieval bridge Chapel, Derby cathedral and St. Alkmonds.

I think the Derbyshire Derwent may have had a mixture of flash locks/navigation weirs and pound locks. There is certainly the remains of flash lock opposite the council house in Derby. There is a submerged weir which gave a head of water to allow the navigation of Markeaton Brook and the lock was to by-pass this. I remember Ike Argent telling me that he had worked through this to access wharves around Exeter Bridge.

The Boat Inn (?) at Bailey Grove. I would be interested to learn when this closed to fill in another detail of the history of the Erewash. It has been a private house for many years.

We had Wyrd and Swan up to Hagnaby some years ago probably around 1995 ish. We had to perform a push me-pull you operation and the main problem was illegal eel traps which the removal of makes shopping trollies look like wimps. Although Wyrd draws 3' over its full length depth was not a problem and IIRC there was a sort of wide by the lock where we could probably have winded 55'. It is a trip worth doing as is much of the drains and they are certainly not crowded nor are they blighted by 'communities' of seldom moving boats since there are very few extant towing paths.

Do not buy a cheap Chinese hydraulic crimper. A better joint can be made with the simple tool with a punch which you hit with a hammer or if you want to be posh put in the vice and tighten. Do not assume the 'professionals' will do a better job. I once, and only once, paid a company often mentioned on this forum to crimp up starter cables and although they looked very neat they fell apart when I tried to fit them

During the summer of 1975 we did an extended trip on Avon. It was a very, very dry summer and there were low pounds and closures throughout the system. We were pleased to get back on the Erewash which was the only canal still running weir. Now, fifty years later, it's the same canal fed by the same river but plagued by almost constant water level problems. Same canal, same water supply, different management with I suspect different priorities.

Imperial measurements are,albeit somewhat remotely, based on the human body and are therefore probably more intuitive than the metric system. The French metric system is based on the distance from the pole to the equator and the derived values are a little more difficult to visualise than the length of one's thumb. In any case they got it slightly wrong. The Babylonians were probably more accurate. We should perhaps also consider the megalithic yard which,considering the forum's demographic maybe more familiar to some contributers to this discussion.

I have found an aerosol of switch cleaner to be an essential piece of equipment.

There is a great deal of research needed to determine which rivers were historically used for navigation. Early medieval boats and barges may have included smaller types, say 10 tons max. Load capacity, which could probably navigate what are now considered too small to be used for trade. A good start would to look wherever a Roman road crosses any waterway or early watermill sites which may retain evidence of navigation works such as water gates or flash locks.