Tacet

Hmm. So it uses no more power to pull a boat (from the bank) against a flow than it does in still water, assuming the same speed over the ground? And if the boat is travelling with the 3mph flow, it still requires the same (positive) power to make it go only 1mph as soon as you start pulling from the bank? Must be a special sort of rope

When towed by a tug in a long train, the barges with tillers had one steerer per vessel, as you might expect. But, less expectedly all the steerers could be in the wheelhouse of the tug playing cards. The tail of the train swung wildly - almost bank-to-bank which made it very exciting when you met one. Even the skippper of the tug looked alarmed and he had a lot less to fear than you.

It looks to be intended for shifting using a push tug, so possibly a work-boat rather than towed as part of a train as was the case on the Lea up to the 1970s. But aren't mud hoppers mostly double-skinned?

Washing Line Envy is a recognised condition for some boaters. It lays dormant within the body until triggered by passing the bottom of gardens on a fine drying day. In my experience, it is the traditional linear line that causes the greatest outbreaks - the rotary style has nothing like the same effect.

My suspicion too. The staining is not concentrated directly above the heat grilles - there are peaks between them.

We manage 1h 22mins descending - but it was mobhanded and a clear run. With a more experienced team we might have been able to shave 5 minutes . As it was in a 57ft boat, I reckon your 1h 25 mins in a full length is the better time. If you are engaging reverse to stop the boat, a shorter vessel has more time to slow its pace after the gates are closed. But how does it work when strapping in? Do you have to take it gently at the approach or can you enter the lock with gusto? There is some hydraulic effect when a boat enter a chamber which causes it to slow - which must be a function of the cross section of the boat compared to the lock at the cill. I find that if you approach the lock too fast, the current of water leaving the chamber pushes the bow towards the nearest side as inevitably you are nearer one side than another. It can can result in quite a clunk which supports relativity theory that the lock becomes narrower the faster it is approached.

The fishermen asked me if I hadn't seen his float. I asked him if he hadn't seen my boat

More likely to be 24v than 12v, surely

I have a sprung hub Triumph 5T - bought new by my Dad almost 70 years ago. Goes very well. Stops very badly.

There was an agreement between BW (as it was) and IWA not to install any further granny gear - either as replacement for existing hydraulic kit or otherwise. There was also a flap on (I think) the Hanwell flight where new top gates had been fitted with only single gate paddles, unlike their listed predecessors. You will know better than me - but for an unlisted structure, operations that "do not materially affect the external appearance of the building" are not development and thus do not require planning permission. Whether a switch from timber to steel materially changes external appearance will be both a question of design and opinion. The original question was about how to avoid over-keen conservation officers which seems mainly to apply to listed structures. I suppose the partial answer is something equivalent to the ecclesiastical exemption granted to some denominations https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/1176/made . It is not a license to do as the owner pleases as, in practice, the exemption is only available to those that have good policies and procedures. Not easy to persuade Parliament though.

I tend to think that meths is used to pre-heat as it burns cleaner than paraffin without a forced draught. Some pressure lamps and stoves have gadget to alllow pre-heating using the paraffin, but they still end to smoke

From 1:55 or thereabouts Gardiner's department store at err... Gardiner's Corner for anyone who can remember pre 1972. Which is not me.

There is some heavy staining of the floor and wall in the foreground, which is a bit ominous