SUIGENERIS

There is now a heritage visitor centre at the Weedon Barracks, Went there earlier in year and found it very interesting.

I used vinyl wrap on my rear door 4 years ago. Still looks good as new, and we are on the boat nearly all the time, so it gets lots of use, bags of coal carried through etc. I have always thought there is a great opportunity out there just waiting for some enterprising person to take it on. My pal has been wrapping police and emergency vehicles for years!

Sorry to hear of problems, Mtb's question is very relevent. Inlet manifolds are very low on these horizontal twins, and other openings for water to get into crankcase are not available except through oil filler, which ,if same as mine has a tight cap.. So suspect water drawn into inlet and maybe some internal damage, hope not though as these are interesting British made engines that get more rare in running order. Good luck. Mick. P.S. Kieron is the "hands on" man with these!

Tony tells me he thinks he has some old 8mm movie reel taken on that holiday. He is going to look for it, Will keep you posted if more info comes along. Cheers. Mick

Tony has been in touch again. The narrowboat owner was based in Birmingham, was well educated and had a "cast in his eye". Cheerrs. Mick

A friend of mine Tony Thurlow has written up the following and emailed me copies of his photos, Quality isnt good but still I include them and hope you enjoy them. About 1956-7 through the YHA I learned of a canal trip from Oxford to Llangollen which was to be horse drawn. Being an apprentice boat builder (on the Essex coast) and having ridden and driven farm horses as a teenager I thought I would give it a go. We started just outside Oxford, meeting the owner/crew and was told this was the first trial trip. As far as I can remember there was about 12 to 14 of us. The barge (the Glendower) was 70 feet in length having bunks each side, a cooking/dining area. The cook, come chaperon, called "Beth" looked after all of us. One lad from a narrow boat family made up the crew. The horse named "Nigger" came from British Rail and was used for shunting in the goods yard. He was on "holiday" for a fortnight and used to moving 21 ton trucks. When he put his shoulders into the job once moving he just strolled along. Once we had all settled down we did jobs to help like going ahead opening paddles on locks, or leading "Nigger" along the towpath. I cannot remember the route but do recall turnover bridges and a hinged bridge just like the Dutch have, taking on water, provisions from village stores. We stopped at Banbury to see the famous cross. Getting to the aquaduct in Wales was fun walking the horse over this, he was very staedy and done well. The canal into there was very shallow and took some navigating. When we got to Llangollen they were having an Eisteddfod, oh what a sight! Coming back I had made friends with the owner and was invited back for working holidays which I did later take up. Hope you enjoy my memories. Cheers. Tony Unfortunately Tony cannot recall the boatmans name, perhaps someone mighty know and remind him ! Hope you enjoy it.

I've had a David Piper and a Nick Thorpe boat and there's no doubt the skills were passed on!

Hi. Don't forget there is a Far Coton north of Mkt Bosworth on the Ashby Canal. Think it's bridge 37. Cheers. Mick

That Colvic looked a real bargain on ebay, and the quality of the woodwork seemed excellent. I was tempted but with both an offshore cruiser and a narrowboat already could never have got away with it with the wife! Good cruising. Cheers. Mick

Hi. talk to Little Chimney Company. Butty Boat Molly. On the canals and makes almost anything in stainless. www.littlechimneycompany co uk.

There is a long throw Dunton Windlass in Apsley Lock, courtesy of my wife last year. I really miss it as they are certainly the best. May I sugggest you attach a steel jubilee clip to it so it is retrievable with a magnet. I learnt that by experience!

It,s a real shame that there really is little liklihood of the restoration of the Inclined Plane at Foxton, despite all the excellent work by the volunteers and trust members. If it had been possible then there might have been a prospect of the Watford Locks being rebuilt to a broader guage, which would have given the required link for wider GRP cruiser type boats to travel from the Southern Canals up to the Northern network without the need to tackle the Norfolk coast. But as a narrowboater who loves the Leicester Summit, and who has seen just how vulnerable the bridges and infrastructure are, I am somewhat saddened at the prospect of it becoming a wide beam resort.

Hi Rdb. Have look at the first post in this thread by Peterson. In photo 2 and 3 you will see the priming pots circled in red. And in photo 3 look on the top of the crankcase and there is a ring spanner laid on it, beside it is a brass button and a turnbuckle. This is the decompressor. Push the button down and the turnbuckle will lock it down. On mine the stop lever works on the throttle/ governor arm that connects to the injection pump. Hope that helps.

Thanks MtB for your valuable endorsement of my engine choice. The 2 VTH in Sui Generis is coupled to a hydraulic BRB engineering marine gearbox and at only 100 cu in. capacity is working just sufficiently hard to keep from glazing cylinders and runs virtually without any exhaust smoke. And of course its pretty light and a beautiful bit of Great British engineering too. Just love it. Well done Casp. for sticking with a Ruston!! Cheers. Mick

Have a look at Nick Thorpe Boartbuilding. He has a website. Built ours and we are really pleased with it and all other owners we have met up with appear also well satisfied. Cheers. Mick