LCM

Hi 'Max's Son' I had been doing some research for an exhibition at London Canal Museum, and found a wonderful evocative description of the sound and feel of a bolinder engine, which your father wrote on the website WorcesterVista some years back. 'The sound of the bolinder was marvellous and could be heard for miles. The huge single piston would shake the boat so you literally danced along the canal' It paints a wonderful picture and I was just embarking on trying to trace him, when I found your announcement that he had sadly died last Spring. I'm very sorry for your loss and have been very interested to read of his achievements in canals and industrial heritage conservation, through this site and elsewhere. I am wondering if we might have permission to use and acknowledge your father's words in our exhibition? It is for a new, permanent exhibit featuring a recording of a bolinder and a brief history of their impact on the canals. Your father's words captured the iconic sound so wonderfully, and would be a great addition to the exhibit. Do please contact the London Canal Museum (0207 713 0836) if you'd like to discuss further, and ask for me. My thanks and condolences Celia

We are currently researching the cargoes frequenting the London Canals and Thames to Brentford. I've unearthed a MovieTone clip from May 1931 the end of which according to the narration, shows a ' horse-drawn barge' (Golden Spray name just visible) 'loaded with corn at Brentford bound for Langley' - which is Toovey's mill at Kings Langley. I understand the grain would come down the east coast in sailing barges, presumably from East Anglia? We too would be pleased to know a bit more about this for a proposed exhibition at the London Canal Museum. http://www.movietone.com/N_search.cfm Search story number 1196/2 The clip is called 'English Canalways to be Transformed' which referred to the improvement and widening works begun in the early 30s on the Grand Union but never completed. Celia

We know that a 9hp wouldn't have been used on Regent's Canal - my apologies - my first request at the start of this discussion might have been misleading. We have a non-working 9hp engine which we are seeking to interpret more fully. This is being done as part of a wider refurbishment of an adjacent display on boats and cargoes of the Regent's Canal. Lots of canal research is always underway at LCM, but we're always happy to hear where we can improve. Thanks for your observations.

Many thanks to everyone for all the help and advice. Really helpful. Have some more lines to follow up now.

15hp may be OK if we can't find a 9hp, but if possible, it would be good to trace one as we know there are some out there on the canals somewhere!

Afraid Mike the Boilerman is correct in that lots of important components are missing - and it's sited on an upper floor so not going to be possible to get her going! Hoping to find someone who already has a working one so we can make a good quality sound recording for the museum as next best thing! Do you know anyone who has one we could ask?

Thanks very much. Will do

Amazing sound! Where are you based? Could we come to make our own recording at any time to suit you? Just seen that you are in Coventry. That would be no problem at all for us - although you may be out on the canals at present. We'd be delighted if we could record this for our exhibit.

London Canal Museum is the proud owner of a 1932 9hp Bolinder which is on display in our galleries. We're refurbishing our exhibits about the boats and cargoes of the Regent's Canal and would like visitors to 'experience' the distinctive sound of this iconic engine. Does anyone have one on their boat, who would be happy for us to make a sound recording of it in action? We're happy to travel anywhere in the UK to do the recording and would acknowledge our thanks to you as the owner in our exhibit. Any help or leads would be great.