David Schweizer

That is also my recollection, certainly on the Grand Union. Ian (and later Renfrew) and Lucy passed our mooring in Uxbridge every weekend on their way to the Jam factory, with Laura Carter steering the motor and Rose Whitlock ably working the long line through running blocks on Lucy.

I fitted a pre-war Lucas King of the Road Fog Lamp onto Helvetia, bought in a boot sale for £5. I had to convert it from 6v to 12v in order that I could fit a tungsten 45watt bulb which proved more than adequate when pointed upwards to illuminate the tunnel roof. The shell was chromed brass but I chose to retain the distressed chrome look which reminded me of the lamps fitted to many working boats in the 1960's.

The building is actually quite old and dates from BW (or possibly Oxford Canal) days, when there were still working boats mooring at Sutton Stop to await orders. It was used by working boatmen and their families, I certainly remember boats moored up outside the Greyhound with washing lines hanging over the hold. Photo taken in 1968 below :-

Hillingdon Narrowboats Association is not a "commercial operation", it is a Registered Charity .

It is certainly more than possible, and will require a couple of days on the Thames between Reading and Oxford. When we kept our boat on the K&A near Bath, I used to move it, single handed, every year from Bath to the Midlands (and back). Apart from the sometimes unco-operative locks on the K&A, I had no significant difficulty.

We may well have also met, my association with Pisces was between 1965 and 1971. I am attaching a couple of photos of the William attempting to get under a lock sluice on the flooding River Nene, on its way from the 1971 IWA rally in Northampton. If I remember correctly, we had to help the crew remove the water tanks from the roof to gain sufficient clearance.

Which is exactly what they did in the 1960's. BW replaced all four gates above our mooring at Uxbridge Lock, where there was no road access, in one weekend, using A frames to lift and lower the gates into position.

When eBay stopped charging sellers a commission earlier this year, they added what they call a "Buyer Protection Fee" to the price payed by the buyer. The fee is 4% of the price the item sells for, plus 75p per item. It makes for some very odd selling prices.

Trawling the internet, I have discovered that there are no immediate plans to discontinue transmitted Freeview until at least 2030 and that some mainstream transmissions will continue until at least 2034, so given that these deadlines often get extended, an estimate of 2040 seems quite possible

Thanks for the replies. A secondary question :- We tend to use a Humax to record tv programmes and watch them when it is more convenient, also when there are two programmes we wish watch being broadcast at the same moment. Will this facility be preserved when TV is only available through the internet?

Most people seem to be talking about receiving their TV signal on their boat through a mobile phone (Smart Phone?) However our mobile signal at home varies from poor to non-existant, so will it be possible to get the TV signal via the internet as an alternative? I am currently planning to change our internet from copper wire to Fibre, will that provide a solution?

RE:- Disposing of oil soaked rags, I have been using linsed oil in its various forms (Raw, Boiled, & Pale Boiled) for decades, and have never experienced the spontaneous combustion that various people predict. I am convinced that it is an urban myth promoted by the internet and people who have never used linseed oil on a regular basis.

I hope your new your pole is Ash, which will bend and not split or shatter under pressure. If it is pine or some other softwood, it could split and cause serious injury if it breaks under pressure. Throw it away and get an ash one. As already mentioned, there is no need to paint it, unless you want it to look pretty, it will suvive without any decoration.

Thanks for that Carl, I had seen that postcard many years ago, but could not find in on the internet. It shows the "square" back end far more clearly. Ladywood came to the K & A Trust second hand, already fitted out as a trip boat, but I do not know where it worked before being based at Bradford on Avon Wharf. Interestingly it had a marinized 4 cylinder Mercedes-Benz engine.

Some Hancock and Lane boats also had square sterns.I used to captain the 72ft H & L trip boat "Ladywood" which worked out of Bradford on Avon Wharf, and that had a square back end, which was a pain when turning in tight winding holes. I cannot find a photo of the stern but this rather poor copy of a postcard does show it to some extent.

We can safely rule out Braunston Canal Services as the shell builder, the bow bears no resemblence to the boats they built for Willow Wren hire. or the later Braunston Hire boats.

If I remember correctly, Rugby Boatbuilders were located at the same base as the the Willow Wren Hire boat fleet, which had been aquired and was being operated jointly by Balliol Fowden and Wyvern Shipping. In the late 1970's/early 1980's they started to replace some of the old fleet with new boats built by Braunston Canal Services which was also owned by Balliol Fowden. There is an outside chance that the OP may be looking at one of those boats, although a 6mm base plate seems to suggest otherwise. Braunston Canal Services boats had some distinguishing features, and whilst they are not initially obvious, a couple of photos of both the bow and rear counter would help with identification (or otherwise).

Yes he did, I first met him in the 1960's but only got to know him well during his last twenty years. He lived in the village from a very early age until his sad demise nearly ten years ago, he was one of the many people who made Braunston so interesting for me.

On reflection, I think you may be correct. I have a vague recollection of someone telling me it was Jim and Doris Collins old boat, and I do believe they operated Kent before taking on Stanton. However, I also have a recollection of them working Hood for a while, or is that my imagination??

The various photos of Hood on this thread have inspired me to look out a photo taken on the Aylesbury Arm in 1998. I believe the boat on the opposite bank is Hood with our boat is in front of it.

Wherabouts in the Bath Area? I was a regular captain on the K&A Trust trip boat "Ladywood" based in BoA in the 1990's.

Would I be correct in guessing that the well known engineer was Jonathon Hewitt at UCC. He has been there for decades, and was always my go to person for any engine work. if not please name.

Not all pre 1995 Narrowboat were built cheaply. Helvetia was built by Braunston Canal Services in 1980, and had a 10mm base plate 6mm hull sides and 5mm cabin sides and roof. Most of their boats were built to the same specification, although a few appear to have had 4mm cabin roofs.