Why so many coconuts

[jeannette smith harrison]

hello all

I took a stroll from Brentford to Norwood top lock today & apart from a poor dead dog was surprised at the amount of coconuts floating in the cut.

is this a common thing?or have i not noticed before, majority seemed to be from the bottom of the hanwell flight up,wouldnt these do damage to the lock gates ?

jeannette

[Strads]

Its been covered in the forum before

 

but they are funeral offerings by Hinduss (I beleive) and with a rather large asian population bordering the GU they use the canal as a place to cast these in lieu of the rivers from their homelands where the practice is common.

 

They float down du to the flow on the GU, and occasioonally gey behind a gate but mostly no problem, but be aware of catching clothing (saree's) are popular when also cast into the waters will definately be a prop hazard.. know a few folks that have caught them ..

 

also watch for flowers and floating candles..

[Guest wanted]

Yep, they are offerings, not sure by who as am not that well up on it all. We get em floating passed all the time. I managed to convice my Girlfriend that it was the annual carribean community coconut race! 1st to the thames wins, kept it going for a week or so!

[jeannette smith harrison]

hello

Thank you good point i never thought of that one. as from the back of Ealing hospital up to Bulls Bridge is Southall area known local as little India.

app over thirty temples e c t in that area & coconuts are not exactly bio degradable are they. yes i can imagin that a saree could cause a major problem.

jeannette

[Tim Lewis]

hello

Thank you good point i never thought of that one. as from the back of Ealing hospital up to Bulls Bridge is Southall area known local as little India.

app over thirty temples e c t in that area & coconuts are not exactly bio degradable are they. yes i can imagin that a saree could cause a major problem.

jeannette

 

Saw a couple in the Coventry canal yesterday!

Tim

[jeannette smith harrison]

from the amount id seen today approx 30 to 40 in a couple of miles they must be pegging it like mad at the moment in southall.

jeanette

[Laurie Booth]

Let's hope a load of Vikings don't move in and set fire to their Long Boats and push them down the cut.

[JonL]

Yep, they are offerings, not sure by who as am not that well up on it all. We get em floating passed all the time. I managed to convice my Girlfriend that it was the annual carribean community coconut race! 1st to the thames wins, kept it going for a week or so!

 

carribean community coconut race -

 

Thanks for that, very funny - really made me laugh .

[cotswoldsman]

Its been covered in the forum before

 

but they are funeral offerings by Hinduss (I beleive) and with a rather large asian population bordering the GU they use the canal as a place to cast these in lieu of the rivers from their homelands where the practice is common.

 

They float down du to the flow on the GU, and occasioonally gey behind a gate but mostly no problem, but be aware of catching clothing (saree's) are popular when also cast into the waters will definately be a prop hazard.. know a few folks that have caught them ..

 

also watch for flowers and floating candles..

Not just funerals also for different festivals.

[Dekazer]

Not just funerals also for different festivals.

 

I've heard that it may also be linked with moving into a new home. Our local Costcutter always has a huge sack of coconuts next to the front door, and we always have several floating around us.

 

I've always intended to stop and ask if I see someone doing it, but in all the time I've lived in the area I never have!

[cotswoldsman]

I've heard that it may also be linked with moving into a new home. Our local Costcutter always has a huge sack of coconuts next to the front door, and we always have several floating around us.

 

I've always intended to stop and ask if I see someone doing it, but in all the time I've lived in the area I never have!

 

Need to go down at night should never be done while the sun is out.

[Guest wanted]

carribean community coconut race -

 

Thanks for that, very funny - really made me laugh .

 

[n.b.Goldie]

The good citizens of Milton Keynes regularly cast offerings into our stretch of the canal, mainly shopping trollies and the like. I think on balance I would prefer the coconuts.

[RLWP]

The scene: Monday, after the BCN Challenge 2009, back of Tawny Owl, in Darlaston. Present: Hairy Neil, Stort Mark and me. I'm out to make a point about those coconuts, that they are a symbolic offering rather than anything else.

 

So, the next coconut I see I fished out of the cut. We examined it and it looks like a coconut - surprise surprise. The question still remains, is it just a coconut or is it the final resting place of someone's granny? To find out, I put the coconut on the deck and tapped it with the mooring mallet. The nut split, and a big ball of damp, grey powder rolled out.

 

I swept the whole lot overboard, we didn't speak for a while...

 

Richard

[Natalie Graham]

How is this practice squared with the BW Byelaws?

 

Floating of timber etc.

 

45. No person shall, without the Board’s consent, float timber or any

other material on any canal or on any part thereof.

 

Have BW made known any policy about this?

[Guest wanted]

The scene: Monday, after the BCN Challenge 2009, back of Tawny Owl, in Darlaston. Present: Hairy Neil, Stort Mark and me. I'm out to make a point about those coconuts, that they are a symbolic offering rather than anything else.

 

So, the next coconut I see I fished out of the cut. We examined it and it looks like a coconut - surprise surprise. The question still remains, is it just a coconut or is it the final resting place of someone's granny? To find out, I put the coconut on the deck and tapped it with the mooring mallet. The nut split, and a big ball of damp, grey powder rolled out.

 

I swept the whole lot overboard, we didn't speak for a while...

 

Richard

 

[Bill]

The scene: Monday, after the BCN Challenge 2009, back of Tawny Owl, in Darlaston. Present: Hairy Neil, Stort Mark and me. I'm out to make a point about those coconuts, that they are a symbolic offering rather than anything else.

 

So, the next coconut I see I fished out of the cut. We examined it and it looks like a coconut - surprise surprise. The question still remains, is it just a coconut or is it the final resting place of someone's granny? To find out, I put the coconut on the deck and tapped it with the mooring mallet. The nut split, and a big ball of damp, grey powder rolled out.

 

I swept the whole lot overboard, we didn't speak for a while...

 

Richard

 

Probably just a rotten coconut kernel. They go grey powdery and fluffy when they rot.

 

Q. If it was Granny, how would they get her in? Had the end been removed and replaced?

[Tiny]

The scene: Monday, after the BCN Challenge 2009, back of Tawny Owl, in Darlaston. Present: Hairy Neil, Stort Mark and me. I'm out to make a point about those coconuts, that they are a symbolic offering rather than anything else.

 

So, the next coconut I see I fished out of the cut. We examined it and it looks like a coconut - surprise surprise. The question still remains, is it just a coconut or is it the final resting place of someone's granny? To find out, I put the coconut on the deck and tapped it with the mooring mallet. The nut split, and a big ball of damp, grey powder rolled out.

 

I swept the whole lot overboard, we didn't speak for a while...

 

Richard

 

Yes a lot of Grandads and Nanas end up in Coconuts floating in various canals - you could say that for them our canals are the equivilent of Holy rivers in India. One assumes BW has no objection to such practises - it's just social inclusion in action! If you want to consume the non human parts of the nut though do wash it first.

[n.b.Goldie]

Yes a lot of Grandads and Nanas end up in Coconuts floating in various canals - you could say that for them our canals are the equivilent of Holy rivers in India. One assumes BW has no objection to such practises - it's just social inclusion in action! If you want to consume the non human parts of the nut though do wash it first.

I do recall, from a deep and not too well defined corner of my memory, an article in one of the waterway magazines (cannot remember which one) which discussed the then fairly new practise to our waterways and BW and Environment Agency said that the practise was contrary to regulations but they had no practical way of preventing it although they will not encourage it.

 

It seemed a fair position to me given that they cannot prevent all the other stuff chucked in the cut.

[RLWP]

Probably just a rotten coconut kernel. They go grey powdery and fluffy when they rot.

 

Q. If it was Granny, how would they get her in? Had the end been removed and replaced?

 

As I recall it (and I've tried to expunge this from my memory before the wrath of a thousand Hindu Gods falls upon me) the flesh of the coconut was still present as well. One of the eyes of the coconut had been opened up and plugged afterwards.

 

Richard

[Guest wanted]

Apart from Richard who had his only fools/summer wine coconut escapade, has anybody ever had an issue with a coconut in the cut?

 

[RLWP]

Apart from Richard who had his only fools/summer wine coconut escapade, has anybody ever had an issue with a coconut in the cut?

 

 

We also had a problem coming down The Crow from Titford pools. One of the pounds was overflowing because the grid on the bywash was clogged up with - coconuts. Hairy Neil cleared the grid

 

Richard

[Josher]

Not too keen on coconuts - but squirrels can't get enough!

 

[BlueStringPudding]

carribean community coconut race -

 

Thanks for that, very funny - really made me laugh .

 

Not so much poohsticks as poohcoconuts.

 

Edited July 29, 2010 by BlueStringPudding

[Josher]

Some people may think this ritual a little strange ....

 

Going to the dogs at Astley

 

FAST trappers are all the rage in the heart of the once mighty south Lancashire coalfield.

 

Speed is on top of the menu among a dedicated band of dog lovers who meet in sleepy Gin Pit village midway between Astley and Tyldesley and just a stone's throw from the giant Higher Fold housing estate at Leigh.

 

For the men, women and youngsters who form the nucleus of Astley and Tyldesley Whippet and Dog Racing Club, who meet in the A & T Miners Welfare Club built by local pitmen during the 1926 strike, their sport is steeped in local tradition.

 

And over the past few weeks they've staged successful dog and ferret show events that have brought enthusiasts from all corners of Britain.

 

On Monday morning club members were tidying up after holding a racing weekend that attracted runners and their owners from as far afield as Scotland and the south of England. And the club is ready to hand over the proceeds of its lurcher, terrier and ferret show to the St John Ambulance, A & T Miners' Junior footballers, North East Greyhound Rescue and Macmillan Nurses.

 

One noticeable absentee from the successful weekend was the late Graham Cooper, a founder member of the A & T dog club. But relatives ensured Boothstowner Graham's spirit will always be at future events.

 

His grand-daughter Vicki Harper said proudly: "We scattered my grandad's ashes on the finishing line before the start of racing and the overall winner was presented with the Graham Cooper Trophy."

 

Full article here.