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nebulae

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Posts posted by nebulae

  1. Had 11 years @ Hatherton Marina. Cars can park next to your boat. Electric bollards. No residential berths. Good security with gated access. Boat yard with crane and dry dock(under different management.) on begining of the Hatherton branch. S and W. Canal pleasant in both directios. Pub 10 mins from maina.(I timed it). Was a pub next to the marina. Dont know if it is still open, Info corect as of 2021

    • Happy 1
  2. Looking at the canal from the new road,towards the lime kilns ,the Nags Head pub to your left,the canal is about 6-10ft above the old road. The ground rises to canal level by the old  bridge at the very end of the canal. The red line on Tarboat Tims map would not cross the drive to Garthmyl Hall,or the modern Swedish type house.built by the then owner of Garthmyl Hall. It would cross the origional drive to the hall.(The origional gate house is next to the pub).The canal passes under the road to Montgomery(op. the Nags Head) with minimal clearance. Between the two bridges,the canal is filled in

    I doubt if a bridge would be possible as sight lines on the main Welshpool to Newtown road between the Nags Head  and the drive to Garthmyl Hall would not allow the main road level to be raised

    • Greenie 1
  3. My understanding is that CART do not own Bridgewater Dock. They have a lease from the local authority? The canal is a fresh water supply to the town. Every bike that has been thrown in can be clearly seen. The ship lock has been filled in with a concrete barrier. Last time I was there,the barge lock was still there,but had been filled in with rubbish. The vehicle bridge over the dock appears to be out of use. The reason the barge lock is out of use is because it allowed salt water to contaminate the town water supply. The dock has always silted badly,which is why there are sluices into the river.The dredger which stired the silt so it could be run out of the sluices was at Gloucester museum last tine I looked. The pontoon moorings must prevent dredging I would have thought. I stand to be corrected,as I have not visited for a while.

  4. The top of the Montgomery Canal above the feeder is empty of water and has been for many years. It is usefull, as the sewage pipe to the Newtown Sewage Works is laid in it.  I doubt the water authority would be happy for the newly surfaced "tow path" to become a bridal way as the new surface on the tow path does not appear to be suitable for horses(Not CART property) The terminal basin is now housing and the canal between the basin and the pump house no longer exists. This is what happens when a canal is not open for boats. Have these people with their silly ideas of banning boats actualy walked the entire canal ?.

    • Greenie 1
  5. Many years ago we had a 30 foot steel narrow boat. It was built of 1/8 " steel and had no ballast. The bottom was flat,but had the center of the bottom 12" deeper than the outside of the bottom. This narrangement gave standing headroom in the center passage and lower each side. The advantage of this arrangement was stability (avoids a v bottom like a Springer),light weight less boyancy from each side which removed the need for ballast. The shape of the bottom gave strength and rigidty.It also acted as a keel,so the boat performed well on a windy day.Driven by a BMC 1.5 d. Dont know the weight,but it could be towed on a trailer behind a large 4x4. Although the boat looked like any other small narrow boat in the water the inovative design worked well,

    • Greenie 1
  6. The Volvo engine in your boat was a good unit in its day(50 years ago+). It looks like your engine has been under water and got water in the cylinder. These engines were direct cooled(so do not have a heat exchanger in a Mirror Ofshore) I have lited one with dificulty,but the engine space is very tight.I think from memory,the last of these boats came with an outboard from the factory. Nothing wrong with a Seagull as a back up. Cheap as chips and most parts available. Cant remember the mix. 8 or 10 to 1? Tends to clog its cooling duct if used in salt water and not flushed with fresh water.

  7. I have the full set of Waterway Journals. I have not checked,but from memory,all the articles credit the authors .Those articles by people who are no longer with us,such as Alf. Hayman, Manager of the Bridgewater Department ,are now  a widely distributed source, through the Waterways Journals. Alf had a lifetime of knowledge of the Bridgewater Dept,as well as access to the company archives. I am sure back issues are available from the usual waterways book sources.

  8. Some of the locks on the Montgomery canal were(and some still are) fitted with paddles in the bed of the canal. These slide rather than lift verticaly. As they have been in use for many years and seem to work O.K. ,perhaps you could adapt the idea .A chain as per Pluto"s picture woud open the paddle. If the section of canal was drained,then the paddle could be pushed back manualy.

  9. I have had to remove a trailer load of lorry tyres,illegaly dumped on my land. Disregarding my time, fuel and the use of my tractor and trailer,the local re-cycling centre charged me £450 to take a 12 ton trailer load.(actual weight about 2.5tons) Also,fridges,washing machines and a large television.

  10. One of the problems restoring the final length of the Mongtgomery Canal is that a major sewer pipe is now in the bed of the canal as far as the sewage works/wildlife sanctury. I believe,but am not certain,that this pipe serves the whole of Newtown. This explains why this length now belongs to Severn Trent Water. I believe that the wier that impounds the water which the pump drew from the River Severn in Newtown would need work. The Water Wheel/Steam/diesel/electric pumps were removed as soon as the works that used this water,closed. Below Freestone Lock the canal takes water from the river via a substantial leat and is in good order The next lock, Newhouse Lock,has been restored. The towpath past the pump keepers house has been slightly diverted. The access for road vehicles to the pump keepers cottage would need a bridge of some kind. The basin has been built over and a major flood bank now infringes on the canal. There is some space for a new basin in the old dairy site/builders yard.?                    I think the article posted by Stroudwater 1 is a little unclear. Acording to The Trow magazine(Cotswold Canal Trust issue 190),the total cost of the phase 1b Ocean to Saul is £24 million,of which the National Lottery is giving 9 million.  Not sure if the 4 million Whitminster Rounabout scheme is included in the 24 million.

    • Greenie 1
  11. I do agree that Ardd lin is a major problem. I was sitting on the bench by the "marina" in Welshpool eating my lunch. Contemplating the difference between Welshpool and Ellesmere. I think there are only the 2 Sunshine boats on the isolated Welshpool length.(may be a CART tug? I dont think narrow boats can get beond Gronwen Wharf at the moment,so quite a way from Crickheath Wharf. At least Schoolhouse bridge seems to be making progress.

  12. I am surprised at some of the negative posting on this subject. This is a grant to Wales,not England. Restoration of the Montgomery Canal has been going on for nearly 50 years,wih huge and sustained progress by volunteers and BWB/CART. Also much EU /BWB/vol fund raising. The towpath is one of the best maintained of all CART canals and passes through beautiful countryside. As to the cost of the Ardd lin blockages,anybdy who is familiar with the two road bridges on the A 38 (roundabout) over the Stroudwater Canal (wide canal) and the A483 blockages at Ardd lin lin (narrow canal) both have very heavy traffic and both have some similarity of scale (4 million Dept of transport costings.recently completed by Griffiths on target)

    • Greenie 1
  13. There is a winding point at Reffail,one bridge short of the end of the Eastern Branch.  Because the main road and the canal are so close together,replacing the dropped bridge to give clearance for boats and an acceptalble approach for vehicles I understand the canal would have to be diverted. Do able but expensive.   At the navigable part conected to the system, work has begun to replace the dropped School House Bridge. As this is the last obstruction in Shropshire and the old railway enbanckment has been removed there will be no blockages before Llanymyenec.h,where a trip boat operates on a short section. However,I am not a civil engineer,but I can see a big problen next to the old  railway,where the lane below the towpath is much lower than the towpath. 93 Walls bridge still exists,but a causway has been put accross the canal to give access to houses. This prevents access to Carreghoffa Locks. Bridge 96 has been dropped by Powys Council. They gave an undertaking that if the canal was restored, they would restore the bridge to navigation. I hope they remember this pledge.  After this,the canal is good condition to Four Crosses and though to Arddlin. Two major blockages at Bridge 102 and 103. The canal is navigable through Welshpool to the Reffail.

    • Greenie 1
  14. After 40 years,both us and the boat are getting old. Unfortunately,sold before prices of second hand boats took off, Also,poor state off the waterways made planning a route imposible. Work involved in maintenance and increasing costs did not help. Back to caravaning.(Still like to walk the towpath.)

  15. If the barge is a second world war ferro concrete barge,then it is amost indesructable. Appart from the Mulberry Harbours,these barges were not a great success. When barging opperations finished due to changing cargo handling,steel (and wood)barges could be re-cycled. Ferro concrete barges are with us for ever unless they can be used for bank protection(as at Purton). May as well use them for something usefull.I have no view of the location in Bristol Harbour,as I am not familiar with the area.

  16. I have most of Charles Hadfields canal books in my library. I believe he also either colaborated or contributed to works by other authors. A true giant of the canal history world. Hard to believe that he passed away 25 years ago. Many of my canal books were purchased from Thorpes booksellers in Guldford( many at bargain prices.Try buying new hardback book for £2.50 nowadays) .What happened to David and Charles publishers. I have a vague memory that it was sold on?

  17. I dont understand how VAT affects the value of second hand narrow boats. Obviously,most boat builders will be VAT registered. All new boats will be subject to 20%VAT unless the builder is not registered or the boat qualified as a house boat. All(most) hire boat operators will be VAT registered,so they can re-claim Vat. Private buyers will normaly have to stump up 20% VAT. I assume that very few private buyers will be able to re-claim VAT. So,does the Vat element of a second hand boat disappear on sale by first owner or does it disappear gradualy as the value of the boat diminishes?

  18. We tend to avoid school holidays,so cant comment about this period. Never had a problem on the Ashton ,Rochdale, Huddersfield.  Rochdale(Littleborough) to Castlefield in a day,so avoid mooring Miles Platting area. Been cast adrift in Chester,which you would think was a posh area.

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