nebulae

The level on the river section can change very quickly. Sometimes half an hour is enough to see the level change. Went down towards Chedleton once with the level a gnats off red. Fastest and most scary ever.

Old 10" mini tyres. Dont tie rope around tyre. Rope will wear through and deposit tyre in the cut and you will not be popular. 2 holes trough the tread with a fairly heavy duty hole cutter, 1 hole in the bottom to drain water out. Only thing that works against heavy duty piling

I am fairly sure that the arches under the Monty @ Garthmyl are lime kilns, Will check next time I pass, Logical as this was the end of the canal for 25 years.

Exchanged contracts in 40 mins once , My man purchased searches from a failed purchaser who was glad to get his money back. Involved me in some running around,but no problem. Purchase of property is normaly childs play. But watch out for any special issues. How many first time buyers have purchased a new build and found it is leasehold? Good scam and legal. HMRC are very helpfull to laymen applying for probate. Process is not difficult and is much less hasle if you do it yourself.

I seem to remember a thread about side doors as a front emergency hatch. You cant open the side doors in a narrow lock. If the boat foundered with the stern sinking first,no way to get out. Somebody trying to invent the wheel?

I have ripped out the floor in a couple of Bingley boats,without wrecking the fit out. The problem usualy starts at the bathroom area. The trick is,to remove small sections and replace,then move on to the next section. Tedious,but a lot better than ripping out an otherwise good fit out.

I was advised by the engine builder to fit a 42/ 4cylinder engine rather than the 3cylinder 30hp engine for river work for a 50ft narrow boat.{Isuzu} Throttle on the stop for hours on end,no problem. Fuel consumtion on canals,just over 1litre per hour.Used a lot more when being thrashed,unsuprisingly .BUT the engine was directly water cooled{through a heat exchanger}. Just have to be carefull the mud box stays clear. Wire brush with long handle for cleaning patio solved that problem. I had a PRM 150 gearbox which seems to be the box of choice for marine engineers.

Hm. My old boat had two seats right on the stern of a trad style boat. It was possible to pull the tiller over till the top of the rudder hit the stern and still sit on the seats. This may well be an oddity due to the design of that boat. Obviously,through tunnels and bridge holes steer from inside the hatch. Photo of our boat on Jim Stead site. Worked OK for 10 years. Boat now sold,no idea if new owner has changed it.

Hooked a child out of a lock, Father in the distance on a hire boat.(shouts,he cant swim).Father seemed more concerned that junior had dropped the windlass in the cut. Got my magnet from my boat and retrieived windlass. Father went through lock leaving child soaking wet on towpath. A thank you would have been nice.

Tractor vaporising oil has not been available for many years. I believe you can mix your own subsitute,using parafin mixed with a little petrol. The Grey Fergy was petrol only when it went into production. I believe the parafin conversion was produced by an outside supplier,later adopted by Fergusson. Did Morris offer a petrol /parafin version of the Vedette marine engine?

Heswall Nautical Training School (Approved School) trained inmates to join the Merchant Navy. Once they were at sea,the potential for mischeif was much trduced. Do we have a Merchant Navy now?Seem to be very few British crew members on ships visiting our ports.

The length of canal up to Brimscombe is phase 1a and 1b of the proposal to re-open the Thames and Severn and the Stroudwater Canals. This would link the Thames and Severn in an all canal link.

Following progress in "The Trow" magazine, much time and money has been invested in dredgers,mud boats and other plant. All lock keeping and lengthsmen and women aree vollunteers. The whole project has the look of a well run operation. If the canal is run like Heritage Railway groups,then supporters will support projects on a one off basis,ie set up a fund to replace a set off lock gates. The project does not end when restoration is complete.

Check out the Cotswold Canals site. Goes to show that persistance pays off.

Went right to the end at Llantysilio on 19th March,1975. No problem with draught(ex Venitian hire boat) Had to return backwords.

The railways had "over capacity" in the 60,s,which is why the Great Central route was closed. Since closure.it has been eliminated in such a way that it can not be re opened. Also,much goods trafic has gone to the roads(i.e.pick up goods calling at small local stations)freeing up track availability. . Just imagine,if Brackley Viaduct had not been pointlesly and expensively destroyed,along with many other structures(all built to the highest standards),the Great Central could have been re opened. People forget that the Great Central Railway was built as a high speed route between the north and a channel tunnel. Long term transport planning in this country leaves much to be desired.!

Many years ago,I had a BMC 1.5 (ex J2 van) coupled to a Morris Vedette gearbox.in a 30ft boat .Bit of a nightmare,as the gearbox could not take the power of the engine. I got very quick at taking the gearbox out and re building it. At the time,parts for this old Newage gearbox were stil about. Just checked on Google. The orrigional Morris Vedette unit used the old sidevalve engine as fitted to the Morris 8.

Did BMC ever supply 1.5 diesels direct for boat engines.They were fitted to the J2 van,the Leyland 154 tractor and the Morris Oxford hire car(This had a finned alloy sump). Thorneycroft marinised the engine(I think they may have had connection with Leyland at some point).Nuffield used to sell marinised version of their car engines,but I dont think Leyland did. I have always assumed that the basis for the 1.5 diesel was the petrol B series.

The Bridgewater had the rule of keeping left many years ago,(From memory)

It was the case that a vessel which had a MORTGAGE on it(not finance) had to be registered as British Ship. In this case,the lender had the ownership of the vessel as security.(Irelevent whether the vessel is a narrow boat or an oil tanker). This gives a purchaser a secure purchase .My first purchase of a registered British Ship involved a considerable legal process. The Small Ship Register does not give the same protection,although it does give you another piece of paper. I have not come accross a narrow boat registerd as a British Ship. Perhaps surprising considering how much a new boat costs

Penine Waterways site have an excelent photo survey of the canal as it is.

The St Helens Canal was closed, I think in 1962 As there was no amenity trafic at the time,there was little opposition to the formal abandonment order. I remember walking the section between Spike Island and Fiddlers Ferry in 1973(from memory) and the canal was blocked by works connected with the power station. There was a pipe accross Fidlers Ferry lock at this time. About this time,the lock keepers house at Fiddlers Ferry was demolished by B,W.B.(How much would that bungalow be worth now) I undertook a survey for the local Sports Council to assess what potential amenity value the canal had at this time. Warrington Development Corporation developed some of the canal,for liesure use,but I dont have any details. People who know more about the canal than me will know when the last trading boat left the canal.I think Sankey Sugar were the last users. I understand that public money was used to refurb the one lock at Spike Island and build the 2 way slipway. I spoke to the Area Engineer Mr Freeman, at the time(1973?) and he could not see any reason to keep the canal open.

I think the boats were at Pomona,waiting for the gas axe. No idea how the boats were lifted out,or why one was piled on top of the other.

Used to be a couple of boats moored next to the Powysland Museum in Welshpool. They were "business"moorings,but have not had a boat on them for some time. The Heulwen boats are moored at Buttington,but I dont think private boats can use their mooring.

I remember a photo of 2 Dukers piled one on top of the other awaiting cutting up,somewhere near Hulme lock, Cant remember where I saw the photo? Is it true that a spare engine was ordered when the boats were new,but was never needed ?