X Alan W

Yes, in the early 60`s the steerer of the last of 4 loaded boats ended up in the water, He heard a strange noise coming from the rudder area on the boat he stepped on to the counter to investigate, tiller bar was suddenly forced over & knocked him over board. at that time there where still parts of the tow path remaining, so he was able to climb out on to it, the boat continued on it`s way & as the steerer on the third boat slowed down to talk to the northern end tunnel keeper in the tunnel mouth #4 boat ran into the back of it, realizing no one was aboard, the tunnel keeper got onto the boat & stopped it. there was a maintenance launch/dingy at each end of the tunnel in those days, so the north end one went in to investigate, they found him on a part of the broken towpath, Ok except for being soaked. No chance of that now as no towpath. very sad for the family concerned in this incident. .

When I started boating in the late 50`s it was not uncommon to encounter a pair of boats[loaded or other wise] to be boating in the hours of darkness, it was also not to uncommon to see? pairs travelling with no lights at all, if it was moonlight it was more unusual to see a headlamp beam coming towards you, after a year or so I found that I could get along just as well without the lamp [ the boat numbers moored or otherwise were far less than today] Loaded was mostly a long line except were locks were close, empty was cross straps. most of my boating was on narrow canals so breasting up was not really an option Much more a problem to me was when it was icy on the lock sides & gates /balance beams, used to tip the stove ash pan in a pile near the top ground paddles for others to scatter if required [ my wifes scattering of salt on the ice was viewed with a good amount of head scratching & shaking & mutterings of what a waste but was taken up by the odd boating family]

The 2 favoured engines for most leisure boats around that time were Morris(BMC) Vedette based on the side valve & later OHV A series, or the Ford E93A or 100E marinised by various companies Larger boats used the larger BMC motors B series & the C series these were used on River cruisers in single or twin installations, the purpose built canal cruiser/narrowboats had not at that time become popular(not many builders) converted lifeboats, plywood cruisers, pontoon conversions; river cruisers(Thames boat builders) were the norm; many wooden buttys were cut in half & a square transom fitted. at that time a lot of ingenuity & making things that were never designed for that purpose work.I remember a converted NB having the more or less complete front end of a Trojan van fitted in the engine ole including drivers seat, steerer had a bus bell push with number of rings for certain things( select reverse etc) IIRC it was a Perkins P3 with road going gearbox ( motor operator sitting in driving seat & depressing clutch & selecting various forward or reverse gear opening or shutting throttle) plus the canals condition at that time made it a pastime for enthusiasts rather than the leisure activity of today

They were included in the Deluxe fitting kit in the early 60s for the S series engines (along with several other bits & pieces) IIRC the rod was for throttle & cable for stop

IIRC Hyperion had work done on the cabin [not sure if it was engine or back] at Charity dock in 68/69? & that would have most certainly have been wood. My recollections of Mr Dunkley was that every thing was done at maximum speed & minimum cost, & I think you would be right about his hand up to his face Taking a drag on the ever present roll up fag.

Thankyou for your post. I hope that my post did not upset you,it was not posted in that way . My late wife & myself were as close friends with your mum & dad in the 1966/ 1971 era [as you could get being boaters] we were mostly on the Shroppie at that time, & your mum & dad were in volved in the Duckhams oil run from Ellesmere Port to Aldridge? {Brum] we mostly met up at Norbury

If the rest of the water injection elbow is not to rotted away [ Its usually at the spot where the water hits the elbow where it rots] a workshop with gas Sif Bronze welding/ brazing equip should be able to sort it for you, even if it means brazing on a patch

The programme was locating heirs of Harris & Harrison familys who were boatman on the Droitwitch Canal & River Severn, was a bit of a brain fader as the children had the same given names as their fathers so there were multiples of people with the same names, apparently at the time they had to have nicknames to know who was being spoken about

When I first went through in late 1957 IIRC there wa s about half to two thirds left in various stages of dis repair you had to be very careful not to stem up on the sticking out bits as it crumbled away almost daily BW took time to remove or put in bits to glance you off the next section, the main problem was a good lot was under water & the fore end being 70ft away, it was pretty easy to remove if your boat was loaded as it was all rotten although the bolts & fastenings were a bit iffy, My friend owned Dorset at the time & left a 1/2inch deep gouge for about 6 ft at the loaded waterline, the other problem was it used to flick you over into the wall at the other side so that tended to do cabin damage when running empty loaded it took more force to do that.

Approx 60ft of chestnut paling fencing with 2 strands of twisted wire with a top strand of barbed wire, took 4 or so hours to remove the part around the prop/ shaft, working boat so no weed hatch, bathing was compulsory, about 100 metres on the Armitage side of the old Milk factory on the T&M at the time they were building the housing estate nearer to Armitage; next day a mattress at Huddlesford just past the junction. that only took an hour & a half, mattress not that unusual, but fell into the ( Oh Bug**r ) category.

The Bantock hulled Emerald had the wooden bottom strakes & bottom replaced in steel at Langley Mill in 1988 it was owned at that time by Colin Palin & as far as I remember it was JP powered ( do not recall if it was a 2 or 3)I think it was sold on shortly after

You beat me to the post re Rivets 5000, it belonged to the family that had Grange End in the 60s

Jack Taylor was certainly involved in ACCCo²s in the early days, He talked to me at Norbury in 1968, offering me a sub contract job carrying interlocking steel piles. I have no knowledge of the outcome but it came to nought & he rang John Stothert at Norbury, to pass on the message it was a no go

In years gone by, in our hotel boating days having paying guests, diesel smells were not acceptable. Morris Oil made a product called Morendo? a diesel deodorant which completely killed all diesel smells. I have no idea if they still produce it. Redex also made one but that made it smell a pleasant perfume, rather than remove the smell. Did not have a solid burner so no problem with wood/coal smoke & no damp problems.

When was Shad paired with this butty? On the carbide run in 1968 Fred & Rose had Aberystwyth;& if brain fade is not to severe I think they were still in BW colours ( although I could be wrong)

The last correspondance I had with Nei,l he was fitting out a ex travelling libary van to live in/travel around, so maybe he`s off WIFI so to speak, the last lot of Mail to him was via a mates address