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Showing content with the highest reputation on 26/07/19 in all areas

  1. Only 2 years since it was a City Of Culture, must have gone downhill fast....
    4 points
  2. Looks like a Habitat cheese grater on its side
    4 points
  3. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  4. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  5. Yes thanks, I do have qualifications. I’ll try to put my point in basic black and white terms, that most people should grasp. How many people have heard of an older boat, built by an enthusiast who knows his stuff fail due to faulty weld or poor construction? None I’ve heard of. And how many boats built by coded welders are cluttering up our canals that steer like lame pigs and look like shite? Lots.
    3 points
  6. "One thing in the world I hate: leeches. Filthy little devils. "
    3 points
  7. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  8. Hopefully there will be an article in the Autumn 2019 Narrowboat Magazine of my research into the origins of the Canal Boat Families which has taken me 25 years to find. No Gypsies, one Navvy, some Farm Labourers, quite a lot of Watermen from the navigable rivers and a few surprises.
    2 points
  9. There was a form of boat census that was conducted on a county basis in 1795. Harry Hanson author of The Canal Boatmen mentions the folk lore associated with gypsies but notes no historical proof. Hanson notes Tom Rolt being imaginative on the suggestion that romany people encamped on Trafford Moss assisted with the completion of the Bridgewater canal and then exchanged caravans for boats which they decorated. Referring to the 1795 register of boats of the 898 masters registered 103 may be described as gypsy names according to a list of names prepared by the Gypsy Lore Society. yet such names came into British society previously and Hanson was critical of this speculation. yet he did state that the wanderings of waterways life attracted gypsies in greater numbers, after 1798, if their names were considered. Hanson preferred to agree with the Hadfield suggestion that the boatmen had origins in the navvy population. Another factor is that have been suggested that agricultual labourers exchanged their basic existence for one on the canals. The basic truth may still be guessed at but family searches are adding more to where the boating families originated from.
    2 points
  10. MFN (middle of f nowhere) at Shipley Lock is also to be avoided. At least if you go to MFN from the canal you don't have to go through the police checkpoint on the bridge from Eastwood. Press on to Langley Mill - Bunny Hop and the Nepalese across the road will meet all your needs. Sandiacre is also a good overnight mooring. Locals are friendly and Dan and Vikki at Langley Mill boatyard are the nicest couple you will meet anywhere.
    2 points
  11. What do you mean, "toilet lock"? You asked me to fit a toilet block, and I have!
    2 points
  12. You should have wispered a really good joke in her ear.
    2 points
  13. Having steered this boat, the prop is just fine(quite a deep pitch perhaps?), boat stops well and steers beautifully.
    2 points
  14. Unlike you, Yorkshire man, I'm a decent sort, bought a very expensive lockwheeling assist device for my better half. I have to add, that I only know they're hard work because I've been told about 15 times since Trent Lock! Repetitive or what?
    2 points
  15. This is two posters mentioning hard locks? I dont understand as I find all locks the same whatever waterway I am on. Pull up at lock and hover, very occasionaly step off if busy and hold boat in with line . Wife operates lock. Whats hard about it?
    2 points
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  17. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  18. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  19. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  20. Ah I can now see the point of the consultation. It is to restore historical integrity to canal boat motive power. Horses. No NOx or SOx or any other smelly items. Whilst there would be considerable particulate emissions, the particle size is too large to be absorbed by humans unless well chewed first.
    2 points
  21. Looking for someone who can pick a boat up from Catforth Preston and transport it by trailer to Rufford Ormskirk. There are Slipways at both ends. Photo of cruiser attached. It's a 23 foot Cheers
    1 point
  22. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  23. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  24. It’s not generally any more difficult than for anyone else. The phenomenon of boat families was probably not established until the latter part of the 19th century and even then evidence shows many of the women folk stayed on the bank and the men continued to work the boat(s). Most boating families had some established base on land be it their own home or the home of a close relative they could use for official purposes; such as registration of family events. There’s a notion of boat families living some sort of detached idyllic existence in blissful ignorance of the rest of the world. It’s a myth. JP
    1 point
  25. There's some past, appreciated and respected posters in the previous pages of this thread. Come back please.
    1 point
  26. Yes in the boat fitting trade the theory was that if you threw 10 magnets at them only 3 would stick.
    1 point
  27. The "Humphries" or however it is spelt, there are many variations as the family were prolific. To quote the Ex Captain I visit "We had no telly in them days." The earliest verifiable waterways connection we have is a Thomas Humphries b. 1794 Eynsham, Oxford, d. 1870 Whitney, Oxford. "No trace on census prior to 1861." The 1861 census gives the location "The Locks, Napton." We have only followed this one branch of the family. The furthest we got "Back" was a Ellis Humphries b. 1660. Back up records here are very scant if available at all. We are only really interested in one family branch. We followed the male line as that has canal connections. Strictly speaking genealogy should follow the female line as you can always guarantee the mother, not so the father. For clarity I am talking about the past here before the days of surrogacy etc. Census records, also Hatchum, Matchum and Despatchum registers as these give the place of birth, death and weddings with the peoples occupations, i.e. "canal worker, Boatman," often giving the address and name of the boat for births and marriages i.e. "Captain Cook, Tusses Bridge." Although boat people worked in many locations they tended not to stray far from the bank. Also there were places popular for stopping to get married and to give birth, two examples Braunston and Sutton stop. Church records are also available here. Boaters had both church and registry office weddings, these records are not too difficult to track down. Modern day records offices make this easier. Many boaters liked to have their bairn "churched." With deaths the body was often taken back to what was considered "Home Port" with the coffin going "Fly." Sites like "Find my Past, Ancestry help but one has to be careful when using these as cousins often have family names with similar birth dates and it is easy to go off on the wrong track which is why alternative sources of information are needed. "Who do you think you are" makes it look all too easy. Cemeteries are also a useful source of information. I suppose one day me boating, it will have to stop By then I’ll know I’m past me prime They’ll carry me up the Junction if they have to carry me fly And by then I’ll know I’ve had me time Wrap me in a canvas, put me behind the mast Give me a clean road, won’t we travel fast With the black crepe blowing in the wind this trip will be me last I’ll have finished moving up the cuts With the black crepe blowing in the wind this trip will be me last I’ll have finished moving up the cuts. http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/moving_up.htm
    1 point
  28. From one of Tony Lewrey's books with regard to farm carts. Mrs T and myself have researched an Oxford boatman's heritage. His boating ancestors on his father's side were boat men from 1794, the previous five generations were land workers with no connection to Romany's. This is not to say there is no connection to other boaters however.
    1 point
  29. Yes, definitely. With the two sense wires connected together there cannot be a voltage across them and that’s all the meter reads. So definitely meter drift. Sorted I know you’ve already done this but for the sake of anyone else reading this thread.,, Nope. Yes. Otherwise the meter will read backwards.
    1 point
  30. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  31. I too found sticky pads failed..tried hot melt glue too but that wasn't much better...on the Aten cluster they have handy holes drilled through them so i used a machine screw and nut.
    1 point
  32. I reckon C&RT's Marketing department are on a role - that's two 'weird' newspaper articles in two days.
    1 point
  33. Coulda woulda shoulda?
    1 point
  34. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  35. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  36. I wonder if that's why Rusty is no longer posting "perish the thought"
    1 point
  37. I have been told that the CRT are dealing with this and the Geese have been looked after
    1 point
  38. But in true internet stylee, my post asserting it never happened resulted in a stream of posts from people saying it happened to them, too!
    1 point
  39. The main problem with 100% bio according to that link earlier, is heavily limited storage time. Advice is to use all of it within 45 days of purchase. Fat lot of good on a hobby boat, only any good for those who cruise most days.
    1 point
  40. Interesting article in The Guardian - if the article is not of interest, go down to the link at the bottom for the sliding ‘then and now’ bit. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/25/the-canal-revolution-how-waterways-reveal-the-truth-about-modern-britain
    1 point
  41. Stop at the dry dock visitor moorings and have a pint in Wigan Central. It's obligatory on your way through Wigan. Also recommend Crooke Hall Inn, or if you like Indian food the Baby Elephant at Gathurst is excellent even though the building looks tired from the canal side. The Railway at Parbold is quirky and well worth a visit, and if you stop at Burscough try both the Old Packet House and The Hopvine.
    1 point
  42. Surely logic would have you question why everyone's not already done it, before building such a box. Thoughts that come to mind are 1. Unless those windows can pop out in an emergency it doesn't look as though there is any means of escape at the bow, so as Dav and Pen notes, a BSS fail 2. If a big cube shape is what is needed then at least make it in such a way that it can be erected when moored long term and taken down when on the move 3. If you need a permanent structure, accept that it should fit within the profile of the boat, a design tailored to go through those arched things called bridges, and put in a bow door. If this is a fixed structure, it doesn't have an escape hatch and the plan is on going to the brights lights of Lunnun then it doesn't just seem ugly (an owner's prerogative and none of my business) but unsafe to both the boat's occupants and other canal users which is where it should become of concern. It would be too easy to get trapped in the bow in an emergency fire/sinking and the helm can't have anything like reasonable forward vision on the move so is probably going to be making contact with a lot more things besides bridges.
    1 point
  43. Good post. We are presently up at Langley Mill. The Erewash is a like it or like it not Canal. We did the canal in April but have returned for Langley Mill Boatyard to carryout some repairs including welding. I have been known to patronise The Bunny Hop. A micro bar a stones throw from the basin. On our way up I ventured into the Gallows Inn. Never again. I wondered up the hill and went into the Needlemakers Arms. A very pleasant local pub. I got the bus back. Should have got the bus there as it's very much up hill. At Sandiacre, forget the Red Lion but a hundred yards further is the White Lion. An okay pub. We find the locks can be hard work, but no harder than other hard work locks. Local lads and lasses are using the locks as swimming pools at present. Not my choice, but hey ho! There's some lovely parts of this underused Canal. Pick and choose where you moor, as always there's horror stories but in our experience no problems that can't be overcome. Glad you did the venture.
    1 point
  44. If you read the full article in the link, rather than Alan's massively edited version, you will realise that it is he who is guilty of "bait & switch" not the Guardian journalist
    1 point
  45. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  46. Pumpouts. The best £16 a month I could spend. ?
    1 point
  47. Hi all, many thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I decided to leave the scuppers open, but fitted some draught excluder on the bottom of the front doors to protect from any ingress into the cabin. In the event, we shipped hardly any water at all onto the well deck - just some spray nothing green - and not a drop into the cabin. We left Limehouse around 1100 so there was some traffic, but most other boats (including the riverbusses) were very courteous. Conditions were somewhat windy (maybe 12 knots) and the wind was over the tide, but the swell was not too bad. In a couple of places where the banks were vertical walls on both sides the waves and wakes were bouncing back and forth instead of dispersing and it got more sloppy, but basically nothing to worry about. And progressively calmer once above Tower Bridge. The downloadable PLA pilot booklet that shows all the bridges and tells you which arch to use was brilliant, highly recommend it. An incredibly memorable day and a trip I'd recommend to anybody. S Timelapse video Limehouse to Putney (battery died!) at https://www.dropbox.com/s/t10q4d8j2jgijve/
    1 point
  48. For clarity not me. This Tony goes by the name Wotever on the forum Battery Charging primer By the way please do not feel badly about yourself in all this. Your problems are just the latest in a long line of similar ones when people with little technical or boating experience buy their first boat. Hang about and you will see another similar question within a week or so. The fault lies with the vendor and the broker not you.
    1 point
  49. People with dogs should keep them undercontrol. Ditto their children.
    1 point
  50. I believe the mods removed the name early doors in this thread.
    1 point
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