Bekaybe

Mersey Flat Oakdale has survived storm Eleanor. Built originally for the Leeds Liverpool canal she is remarkably seaworthy, her strength coming from her composite construction and high quality build. Wind gusts were in excess of 90mph and there was an additional 1.5 metres on the 10 metre tide. Unfortunately, though, the ships cats were terribly seasick.

I have a Perkins P6 that was originally river water cooled. About every 5 years the head had to come off to break up and flush out the baked sediment from the water galleries. At times there was only a couple of inches of water at the top of the block galleries. The filter had a very fine mesh, but not fine enough for river sediment apparently.

Our Collie went missing last Christmas Day at Wrenbury. We found her after many hours of searching in the dark, curled up by the fire in the Cotton Arms. I have no idea from where she got the preference of pubs over boats.

Some pictures of Oakdale under power on the Mersey

I took that photograph. The prop is very much real and connected directly to a Lister HA3.

Coincidentally, I was planning on visiting Oakdale this weekend sometime, to see how work is progressing. I'll dress appropriately and get my hands dirty too if I'm lucky.

If this article is to be believed, there are more thefts than we may imagine. http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/4251648.Pirates_on_the_canal__50ft_narrowboat_stolen_in_Chorley/

Chas Hardern Boats is on the Shropshire Union at Tarporley, North of the Barbridge junction towards Chester. Might be worth a call.

It's not hiding in Hartshill Yard is it?

Messaged you Dave

Always a pleasure to read your well written and descriptive posts Roger. The sad loss of Keith Ball was covered in the History and Heritage section in mid February. Give my regards to Oakdale Dave next time you speak to him. As an aside, I gather Bill Richardson is no longer with us. Another sad loss.

Very sad news indeed. I will remember fondly having a beer with him at the Bridge Inn at Audlem on Christmas Eve a few years back. Thinking about it, it must be 10 years, 2005. The cut froze over a few days later.

Derek and others have made a very good point. There are still quite a number of people around who have worked the canals. Mal Edwards MBE comes to mind. I have listened to many a fascinating tale over the years. These are the people whose first hand recollections need to be recorded. Edward Pageat-Tomlinson recorded, to tape, many hours of recollections of canal families around the North West. I wonder what happened to these? Proably stuffed away in some dusty archive I guess. Knowing who to talk to is where the knowledge of the wider canal community can play a part.

It was not my intention to be offensive. I was just trying to clear up a few misunderstandings. So, my apologies, Pluto, if I offended you. You do, however, have an open invitation to visit Oakdale and have tea, sticky buns and a good look around Oakdale for yourself.

Let me refresh your memory Pluto. From your posts of 2013: "Oakdale was one of the last wooden flats to be built, and at 15 feet 6 in wide, could only just reach Burscough, where the photo was taken, but was too wide for the drydock there. Her construction is interesting, in that the framework showed Yorkshire influence" From this thread: "On a keel, such as the Ethel seen below, the bow/stern framing is different, being almost at a right angle to the rearmost cross frame. The hooks are in three parts which overlap. Oakdale uses this type of framing, the design having travelled across the Pennines via the L&LC." You clearly showed the frames in Bedale and the frames in Ethel, stating that "Oakdale uses this type of framing" My question how can you make these statements if you hadn't seen the framework on Oakdale? She was sunk when you worked on her, was she not? So when was it that you saw the framework in Oakdale in order to be sure enough to make those statements? For the record, Oakdale is 15 feet 9.5 inches wide. She was sold to Rea's in 1963, along with Ruth Bate. Rea's sold both in about 1966, Ruth Bate to a Red Cross group and Oakdale to Lydiate St Thomas's church. St Thomas's kept Oakdale until about 1972 when Frank Boothby acquired her. The current owner bought her from Frank in 1976 and pumped her out himself. The current owner of Oakdale claims to have never met you, but when I mentioned that you owned Pluto, he laughed heartily for a good while and suggested I ask you where Pluto is now. So one final question, if I may, where is Pluto now?

Pluto, you have mentioned that you did some work on Oakdale in the 1970s. What work did you do exactly?, and for whom? I presume it was for Frank Boothby. What I'm struggling to understand here Pluto, is how you have been happily telling people how the bow frames of Oakdale are constructed similar to a Yorkshire Keel and not like a Mersey Flat, when it seems apparent to all who are reading this thread that you have probably never seen the bow frames on Oakdale. Can you please explain, to ALL who are reading this thread, WHY you are presenting yourself as an expert on something you seem to know very little about? You could have just gone and had a look at Oakdale for yourself if you were unsure.

Very interesting theories, Pluto. I don't doubt that the L&LC played a part in technology transfer in both directions, but I think bluff bowed Mersey Flats existed long before the late 1940s. Sailing Flat Shooting Star (1877) had a very bluff bow [Mersey Flats and Flatmen, Stammers, page 5] and Mersey Flat Fred Abel (1936) is exactly the same shape as Oakdale, both being built using the same templates and on iron frames that were ordered in 1929. Abel built no Flats during the war and didn't expect to build any after the war either. Why would they choose to significantly change the shape for the only 2 Flats they built after the war? We now know there was no need to change the frame structure to achieve the bluff bow, as per your earlier suggestion. Perhaps the need to maximise carrying capacity on the cuts was the reason for bluff bows? This, of course, is limited by the size of the locks. I have a contact who saw Oakdale being built and he knows a gentleman who actually worked on building her. I'm intending to contact this gentleman whilst it's still possible to glean more knowledge on the building methods used.

Framing in the bow of Mersey Flat Oakdale

Thank you for the photos Pluto. I noticed that Edward Paget-Tomlinson's book on Mersey and Weaver Flats has a picture of the Fred Abel on page 27, and knowing that Heathdale, Fred Abel, Oakdale, and Ruth Bate were all built to the same design, I was curious as to why these Flats would be constructed differently to all others. Given that Oakdale is still afloat, I decided to visit her this weekend to see the bow framing for myself and take some photographs. I have to report that the bow frames, or Cants as the owner calls them, are exactly as shown in your photograph of Bedale, and nothing like those in Ethel. I will endeavour to post some photographs, once I have dried out and figured out how to post them.

Does anyone have any photographs of the bow framing on Oakdale? I'm interested in the 'Yorkshire influence' in her construction. If nobody has any photographs I shall make an effort to visit Oakdale and see if I can get some.

Kris, did you notice the Severn Iris tug whilst you were there? 1903 I think she was built.

Lister HA3 according to the National Register of Historic Vessels