Chertsey

Thank you for all the replies and extra info. Fascinating background to a lovely picture.

I don't know whether I should have posted this here or in more general 'equipment' but I thought it might find more people with experience of it here. I shall be off for a brief cruise in a few weeks and I think I shall want to light the stove. When we lived on Bakewell, and it didn't go anywhere, the chimney stayed on and it had a liner in it, no problem. But when moving about, sometimes the chimney has to come off. My problem is that with the liner in place, this can't be done quickly or easily. It's a two-handed tussle that isn't compatible with steering the boat simultaneously - getting it back on/in being the hardest part. The cabin has been lovingly cleaned and polished and I don't want to get tar running down it. The liner I've got is a completely separate rolled piece of tin that sits inside the chimney collar, unrolling itself to fit snugly both there and at the top of the chimney. How do others manage?

I wouldn't put bleach in a pump out tank. Firstly it could react nastily with any remaining blue, and secondly any bleach residue could stop the green from working.

Southall on the bank at Stretton probably about 2007 http://townclassalbum.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/171-southall.html Sorry, can't hotlink photo from iPad.

THIS!!! ^^^

That in iteslf is interesting because the historian I showed it to suggested an earlier date on the basis of the clothes. He's a bit of a railway buff too - I'll get back to him!

I don't know nearly as much as I should about engines (I can just about name the important parts of my own) so I don't know whether that makes me a good or bad person to reply to this. An old engine in an engine room is easier to see and get at, if you want to get to know it better and do your own repairs, but depending on what it is and how esoteric it is, it might be harder to find someone else to repair it. Having said that, there are people out there, and once you've found someone for your engine, you've found them. A modern engine is possibly harder to fix yourself if you're so inclined? Dunno, never had one. Old engines sound nicer. Engine rooms make good shed/drying space. I couldn't bear to have a modern unit buzzing away under my feet. I'd much rather be deafened and asphyxiated (before someone else says it). It's the same as anything else, when you find the right boat, the right engine will be the one that it's got.

I know this is a bit off topic, but I wanted to share this photo which I bought in an antiques shop in Cleethorpes last year (don't ask what I was doing there). It's captioned Diver at work, Immingham Docks and the guy in the shop said it was the graving dock. I just love it. (All those rivets) Anyone want to throw in any info or knowledge? My photo of the photo isn't great because it's behind glass so there are some reflections, but I hope it gives a taste. It does enlarge further if you click on it. At least it does for me.

If it's not a known builder it's unlikely to be recognised, was the point I was making.

What's so special about it? Certainly from those two photos nothing catches the eye - perhaps more photos or a description of its unique features would help,people both appreciate it better and identify it. If it's unique then it's surely likely to be a one-off so you're unlikely to be able to trace it to an established builder.

There's another sweeping statement which certainly is not true for everyone or every boat. It has been discussed at great length on many threads over many years (including recently) so I am not going to get into the arguments about it here. But it is wrong to make categorical statements on the basis of incomplete knowledge especially where this may mislead people.

Don't think I was there that year :-) I'm not quite sure how it works, the only times I did it I just did as I was told!

Mmm, it's what I've got and I'm sticking with it but I'm not saying it's ideal. The steel is not very flat on the sides for one thing, which shows up quite badly when it's well polished. Secondly over the years it was all but abandoned water has got in, and there is some (hopefully no longer active) rot in the ceiling. In another interesting historical quirk, the wooden cabin is built of oak; I imagine the rot would be worse if it had been softwood. At some point I may have to do something about it but not yet!

You will *not* need a survey for the third party and (ironically) salvage insurance required for licensing. It doesn't sound the sort of boat it would be worth having comprehensive insurance for.

They are terrible things, mean you can't remove or even lift your fenders and this is what happens. Once you replace the fitting perhaps you could use a caribina to attach the fenders when needed (e.g. when moored against concrete piling) and keep them safely stored away the rest of the time, thus removing the risk of damage to the fittings too.

Why is it troubling? It would perhaps be troubling if they *were* inept (although boat tracing isn't something they'd have to do very often and I don't know why it should be obvious that they'd know the best way to go about it) but why is it troubling that someone might merely think that they are?

For those that haven't: And I've added a couple more. Certainly not the first place I was expecting to see a big Northwich!

Well, Chertsey's back cabin was skinned in steel in the early eighties and it's now a respectable and venerable part of the boat's history :-)

Resurrected this thread because I unexpectedly came across a large Northwich BW workboat conversion (which I believe Purton also was) whilst on a local walk today and it has a similar feature, albeit higher up. I'm not sure this is any help in identifying the purpose of the hole, but here it has a bolt through with a bit of chain on either side. Naburn at Tinsley:

Yes, it depends how much trouble the police want to go to to find these witnesses doesn't it. It's easy to put out a general appeal through the press, less so to actively look for them. I'm sure the victim of whatever this crime was would rather they did the latter. It's probably not actually reasonable to assume they know the easier ways of finding boats and boaters - if they did they'd be posting on here all the time for a start.

Maybe the 52% are regular, even if infrequent, users, while the 90% includes people who remember doing it once, or even those who just like the idea. One question is about activities, the other about attitudes/feelings.

Very poisonous to cats apparently. Ok for washing down kennels, but not catteries. Don't ask me where I heard this, I've long forgotten. What's in it? It's quite sort of creosotey, isn't it...

Ah, but the difference, as I mentioned a few pages back, is one of freshness....

You can imagine the outcry if anyone openly advocated it! I recall a story though that when the GU boats were built in the 30s with a chemical toilet built in, the boatmen thought it was terribly unhygienic keeping the stuff hanging about rather than getting rid of it straight away. The newfangled things didn't last long and the traditional bucket was swiftly resumed.

You can still get them. Looks like a VERY expensive bucket.