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John Brightley

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Everything posted by John Brightley

  1. It shows that even if something is old and unusual it's not necessarily desirable, at least in that condition. I'll be surprised if they get more than £20k for it.
  2. BW inspection launch 'Vigilante' for sale at Braunston Marina, £38k: https://braunstonmarina.co.uk/boat-details/nb-vigilante/
  3. I have this mug from the 1982 Titford Two national rally, but haven't seen any of those glasses before. I guess they must be quite rare.
  4. Yes, generally it is. Richard Chester Browne did extensive research when he was putting that book together. However it was published in the 1980's so historians since (including Ray (Heartland)) may have found some more information in the intervening years.
  5. I don't think it is correct, or at least if the location is correct, the photo doesn't date from the 1970's. I went across Navigation Bridge twice a day to and from school in the 1970's and I think I would have noticed such a high structure if it had been there ! But happy to be proved wrong.
  6. In my experience many people still have a long term commitment to their job, but unfortunately the majority of companies don't have the commitment to their staff that they used to, and have no qualms about getting rid of staff no matter how long they have been with the firm. Apologies for taking this thread off-track !
  7. This item is coming up for auction in Derby. It is described as a 'narrowboat automaton chimney cowl'. That seems a bit unlikely to me- what do you think ? https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/bamfords/catalogue-id-bamfor10924/lot-5ce7d852-f156-476a-a16b-b114014a5cb9?
  8. 'Romulus', as shown in the brochure photo, was built by Colecraft. I seem to recall that Cosgrove Cruisers also had an older boat 'Remus', which was a Springer. That may be it shown in your photo above.
  9. As far as I can remember, Speedwell is still basically the same as it was when it was a hire boat - it was a bit unusual in the 1980's !
  10. This is brilliant - thank you David for posting this information. There are a number of us on this forum who are interested in the history of the canal boat hire industry. 'Dawn Treader' and its two other sister boats were operated by the Adkins family of Holt Farm, Napton. My second canal holiday was on 'Dawn Treader' in 1977. We had a good week going to Market Harborough and back. As it says on the brochure extract you've attached, the 'Conifer class' were operated by The Water Folk, a company owned by Alan Picken, who owned a large very eclectic mix of ex working boats.
  11. Thank you David. Yes, your photos and memories are of great interest to many of us. Please keep on posting. I would encourage you to publish them in a book sometime. Alternatively we would be happy to put your photos on the Railway and Canal Historical Society archive website (link to it here: https://www.rchsimagearchive.org.uk/ )
  12. When your photo was taken, Grace was owned by Tony Miles who worked with the Coventry Waterways Project based at Canal House (the building in the background of the photo). I don't know when Tony acquired her but it was probably about 1970, and she was moored at Gas St Basin in Birmingham for a time until Tony got the job at Coventry. Grace was moored in the position she's shown in the photo when the Coventry Canal breached just north of the basin in December 1978, and stayed there in a dry canal bed until the canal was refilled about 9-10 months later. In that time she deteriorated significantly and I believe Tony eventually gave her away for free. By then he was preoccupied restoring one of the cottages by the middle lock at Hillmorton. Edit: Dave Moore recalled in this post: that Sam & Vi Minton lived on Grace in the 1960's at Gas St.
  13. It is confusing, but if you look at the rest of the sales particulars it is explained. It should really say "CRT are to retain a 99 year lease on the sanitary station"
  14. Broad Street Depot, Wolverhampton: https://bidx1.com/en/en-gb/auction/property/94947
  15. Nebulae was at the 1984 Hawkesbury National Rally and I believe the conversion/ refurbishment had just been completed.
  16. Yes, they were built in the late 1990's.
  17. Blowers Green/ Parkhead pumphouse: https://bidx1.com/en/en-gb/auction/property/94128
  18. Could there be any connection with Worsey's, boatbuilders in Tipton and Birmingham ? http://allensregister.com/bp173_Worsey.php
  19. My guess is 1960's because the telegraph poles are there. (And the image is slightly blue - common with 1960's Kodak slides)
  20. I'll hold you to that when I next see you Ray !. I think Jonathan deserves one as well though. Hope you both have a good Xmas. This must be one of the last uses of Runcorn locks. I am a bit curious as to why the boats are going that way - does anyone know? (My guess is that the Anderton Lift was closed)
  21. That's Runcorn. I've seen that image published a few times over the years. Which photo collection does it come from?
  22. According to Geoff Pursglove in his article about the Ashby Canal in Narrow Boat magazine summer 2012, "the Ashby Canal structures were all built to the 14ft standard, including the stop lock at Marston Jabbett", but the stop lock was reduced to narrow beam in 1819.
  23. On most of the system CRT own a strip of land on the offside of the canal which is one to two metres in width. I know this as at one point a few years ago I had access to legal plans which showed the extent of their ownership.
  24. In terms of definitions for different types of boats, the following may be useful. It is an extract from a letter from William Venables of the Transport & General Workers Union to his colleague Miss EM Forcey, dated 18th August 1936. The letter is in the archive of the Modern Records Centre, Warwick University. "With reference to your query as to the difference between 'boats' and 'barges' and 'horse boats' and 'horse barges', I will try and explain. The terms 'boats' and 'barges' are used in a different manner on different canals in different parts of the country. The term 'barge' is generally used for craft with a carrying capacity of over 50 tons and are usually engaged on canal and river trade. The term 'boat' either horse or motor is usually used for craft with a carrying capacity of under 50 tons and also to boats using the smaller Inland Canals. This particularly refers to the boats trading between London, Birmingham, Manchester etc. In this part of the country the type of craft similar to the last mentioned is usually termed a 'Narrow Boat'. The difference between 'horse' and 'motor' boats is that these days with the awakening interest on the part of the Canal Carrying Companies they have realised the value of the internal combustion engine for use on the canals. The 'motor' boat is the one with a motor installed in the boat. The policy of most canal companies is not to install motors in all their boats but to have roughly half of their boats without motors which can proceed either by horse or being towed with a motor boat. Some firms work the boats in pairs that is a motor boat and a boat without a motor. The term generally used in this case is motor boat and butty. With regard to your reference to horse barges, it is not very common to use this expression in connection with barges which are horse drawn, they are usually called 'dumb barges'. You will notice on page one of the Manchester Ship Canal (Bridgewater Department) rates the heading 'Flatmen'. You may wonder why this term, so I shall explain beforehand. These men are actually employed on dumb barges which use the Bridgewater Canal, Manchester Ship Canal and Rochdale Canal and the River Mersey and the term 'Flatmen' is a local term peculiar to the district. Men similarly employed in Liverpool are termed 'bargemen'."
  25. We have a copy of this photo in the RCHS collection. The original photo is in the Oxfordshire County Libraries Taunt Collection and a note on our print says that the boat was first registered to William Ward on 5/3/1879 and passed to Lewis Grantham on 7/9/1898, so the photo must date from sometime between those two dates.
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