oldironsides

Meaford by the top lock.

Our Armstrong starts straight away, warm or cold. How? We fitted a thermostart in the inlet manifold. Absolutely brilliant!! Cost less than £30 with all the bits.

Buy a spare engine, readily available on Ebay, and keep it in the hold just by the back end bulkhead; adds about 350kgs weight so you can chuck out some ballast. Then, run the boat like you stole it and you will always have that elusive spare part for if it goes wrong. Very few parts are marinised, so an old baler agricultural engine will do you fine. Don't forget:enjoy!!

I know the hole is big but there is an underwater bar of silt or mud at the front which means you cannot turn a boat. CRT know the problem, their solution is to dredge it out. In 2019.

Hi, Martin, its at Birches Head, sorry don't mean to be rude! I have complained about the bar of mud across the winding hole many times as there is nowhere to turn between Hanley and Milton, despite the three winding holes marked on CRT maps. All are impossible for full length boats to turn. CRT have them down for dredging in 2019, think they are having a laugh! I don't think there are sunk boats in the hole, just hard mud. There are several iron day(?)boats used as bank support on the sides of a stream further towards Milton from Birches Head

Be careful if you use actual lead oxide paint as it will give you problems if you need to have any steel work done. It is horrendous to deal with cutting, grinding or otherwise disturbing it. The elf 'n safety implications are strict. Don't forget children used to get lead poisoning from lead based paint, some died. That is why it was banned.

If you want oil based, not primer, Johnstone's red oxide paint is very good. For cellulose paint in Staffs the best and cheapest is Regal floor paint, good colour, great coverage and very cheap. You collect from their manufactory near Cellarhead and that is an experience in itself! give them a ring first to tell them you are coming and ask for directions. After cleaning all loose rust off, we put a coat of Vactan on and then use Johnstone's.

And they will post it, too!

Up for £1200 in the not so distant past, IIRC. Wrong reduction, but has electric start, lot of work to fit into a narrowboat. Probably still a bit more expensive than one would hope.

Now open.

Our 'F' gearbox dipstick is stamped 'Parson's F' so have always assumed it is correct!

Be careful, that gearbox is not the standard fit, or indeed a Parsons box. It is also quite expensive, if you are just looking for spares. I think most AS2s in narrow boats run the 3:1 box. Conversion to variable speed is relatively easy, so I was advised by much missed Tim Leech. It requires changing springs apparently. The maintenance manual from AS (on Ebay) and also the installation and maintenance manuals issued by Parsons are available from the current owners of Parsons who are Mathway Parsons in Southampton.

Keep an eye out on Ebay and buy a spare engine or two. AS2s available every now and again, runners go from cheap to silly money! You should get one for less than £600 in good nick.

Where did you get the valves from? There is now a Facebook group for us merganser folk: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1160593650620627/

I have had just had a reply to my email about the naming of lock 38 from David Fern at CRT. He thanks me for my information and says that they have changed their records to show that it is named Twyford's. Excellent, well done CRT.

Apparently it ia a bit like a carnival parade. Starts at Hanley Park and then promenades around.

It is this: http://www.appetitestoke.co.uk/whatson/deblozay

Notice Alert Trent & Mersey Canal Starts At: Lock 38 Ridgway's Lock Ends At: Lock 38 Ridgway's Lock Up Stream Winding Hole: Etruria Customer facilities Down Stream Winding Hole: Above bridge 113a Glebe Street bridge Thursday 27 August 2015 18:00 until Saturday 29 August 2015 22:00 Type: Navigation Closure Reason: Information Above is from CRT stoppage notice. It refers to Twyford's Lock on the T&M. Twyford's Lock has been called Twyford's Lock for over 100 years. Twyfords opened their splendid rebuilt Cliffe Vale sanitary works by the canal in 1887 and this building has recently been converted into apartments. Two bottle ovens have been preserved by the side of the canal, the remainder of many on the Twyfords site. This is why lock 38 is called Twyfords. Ridgways was a major pottery manufacturer in Stoke. It had several works in the Potteries. The nearest to lock 38 was the Bedford Works, on the Caldon canal at the top of the Lower Bedford Street staircase locks. Everyone locally knows lock 38 is Twyfords lock. It is so-called in Bradshaw's and in many other T&M documents. Why are CRT trying to rename this lock? I did email CRT about this two weeks ago but have had no answer to my email.

There are a number of plans and maps which show Etruria and the changes which took place when the staircase locks were removed to speed up traffic. The line of the canal was shifted eastwards to the present position and the houses, yards and so on built against the new towpath line. Shirley's Etruscan Bone and Flint mill was built later, in 1857, to replace the older mill and mill pond on the site. The gas works wharf wide is perhaps a relict of the pond. I would like to see any plan evidence that anyone knows of for these changes. Of course, much of this work was done as part of the removal of the other staircases along the T&M. The minute books are still missing, believed destroyed!

Some records exist scattered about but when the canal was bought by the railway, they destroyed most of the paper. After all, why keep it? By the way, that was sarcasm.

I don't think they acknowledge that Armstrong Siddeley made diesel engines which got fitted into boats. Which is a shame. Perhaps we should start an AS diesels register/club. We could call it the Merganser Club, motto 'Ay oop, duck', maybe.

Any idea on price, we need one!

Presumably also: Easter at Ellesmere Port (National Waterways Museum) April 3, 4, 5, and 6 BCLM Working Boat Gathering Sept 26 and 27 (guess, as usually week after Tipton).

Etruria Canals Festival May 30th and 31st.

Try someone who specialises in vintage Harley Davidsons, they are all UNC and UNF, I have a box full of them from my Harley days, maybe I could find it????