hughc

I suspect that if the level and severity of the stoppages now happening in the North West were happening on the southern G.U. and its associated waterways then even this complacent and blinkered forum might be moved to collective action. The system is not as it was during the eighties and nineties the level of unplanned stoppages is far worse and this can only be due to the poor decisions taken by successive managements. Under funding is partly to blame but an apparent lack of empathy with the history and culture of the cut by CaRT management becomes yearly more apparent. Regards, HughC.

I have signed this. It may be the first sign of effective opposition and pressure on CART.

The Markeaton brook through Derby. There are apparently traces of wharfage in the tunnel under the Wardwick. Regards, HughC

It must be the best part of forty years ago that we attended a public meeting in Ironville village hall called to discuss the restoration of the Cromford after the ECP&DA had organised work parties to clear the flight through the village. At this meeting the BW representative said that the restoration movement had to choose between the Cromford, the Grantham or the Nottingham only one was going to be viable. It was not too long after this that BW ripped out the top of the flight in order to 'safegaurd against a 100 year flood'. The only other place where this happened was on, I believe, the Huddersfield Narrow also in danger of restoration. Well we have had some serious flooding since then but not in Ironville nor would there have been since a plan was put forward to enable the flight to be used as a flood spillway. The Nottingam is of course a lost cause and the Grantham appears moribund which leaves only the Cromford so perhaps B.W. were not so far off the mark. Not of course that any navigation in the accepted sense of the word will ever be allowed past Ambergate.

Anything under three summer days for Braunston to Langley Mill is good going, or it used to be.

That is very very similar. We have rebuilt the wheels on ours and fitted them with modern tyres and generally overhauled it but other than that it is identical. Regards, HughC.

If you would like to take your children or grandchildren cycling safely I have for sale an Alworthy 1930's family triplet. Built in Yorkshire not China I might add. Overhauled with new tyres and chains but everything else including Trivelox gears is original.Regards, HughC

That I think was down to Crystal.

Some children, especially when indoctrinated whilst very young, grow up to become obsessed to the point where their canal mania exceeds even that of their parents. Regards, HughC.

Beautifully fabricated on board by the Reverie Canal Trading company with whom I have no connection other than being a very satisfied customer. Regards, HughC.

When we were very young and bought Avon the top bends were not good. Money was very tight and although we had dehogged her and replaced a good deal of planking the cost and complexity of the bends proved a step too far. We replaced the rotten sections with ferrocement based on expanded metal sheet and a rich mortar mix which ws cast in place and caulked where it abutted wood. We than ran the boat for some years and when painted the difference was noticable only to a very discerning eye. What was surprising was how flexible the repair was so drifting up to a lock cill one could see the bends flex a little as they absorbed the impact. I think they were still in place when the boat was broken up at Puttenham. Not all bodges are bad bodges and some existing boats would have been scrapped long ago but for a little 'out of the box' solutions. Regards, HughC.

Paint the bilge first. Regards, HughC.

I towed Daphne's sister Clara from Ken Keays' yard to Langley Mill in ,I think , 1978. It was during the worst storm in living memory at the time. I do remember that we had to cut our way through a variety of what CART now call 'vegetation' on the eleven mile. The owner subsequently burnt Clara and Avon was broken up at Puttenham. Regards HughC

We fitted the PJ3 to Banstead at Boot Wharf in 2000. ISTR to remember that it had a very substantial adaptor plate carying the ?Hurth 250 mechanical box. It certainly did not lack power when we paired Banstead with Meteor. For heavy full length boats the PJ series either wet or dry are a good choice. The air cooled version has of course a separate cooling fan rather than relying on the flywheel and this I suspect means that overall the cooling is more effective than either Lister or Armstrong Siddeley managed to achieve. Regards, HughC.

The engine that is the subject of that thread is now running in Heyford. HughC

And I still have for sale an ex standby HR3 with very low hours fitted with a Borg Warner 2:1 box on a proper Lister air cooled bell housing with variable speed governor. £1500. Regards HughC.

In the distant past the Navigation was known as The Jawbone. This because of the whale jawbones which framed the door. During the restoration of the Great Northern Basin during the 1970's it was a favourite lunch venue and the publican at the time never took us to task for the mud and water we tramped into his house. However, if I remember correctly, the public bar still had pit belting on the floor. I'm sure I remember a pony being brought into the bar at one time. Dick Alton who owned a converted lifeboat called the Greta Thorden was an accomplished pianist and many an evening was spent singing along loudly if not well. I think the pub. now caters for a different market sector. Regards, HughC.

Was it not built by the Flixborough Shipping Company alongside Horninglow Basin? IIRC the stem post is slightly offset. I do remember helping to try and get her through the bridge below Stanton Lock on the Erewash during a rally in the mid-seventies. She is a beautiful boat and an object lesson that the builders of modern wide beam boats should take on board. Regards, HughC

Experience, hard earned I might add, suggests that whatever engine you decide on you need to fit the biggest gearbox that will within reason fit. I've just fitted a new PRM 280D to a Ford BSD3 which is 42H.P. @ 2200R.P.M. The previous PRM 160 lasted for thirty years much of this time spent towing. I did replace the clutches twice in this time which leads me to think that were I starting out now I would go for the PRM500. Gearboxes are not in general rated for canal use with constant gear and speed changes so bigger generally means better. Regards, HughC.

You are quite right. It is my memory that is awry. Meteor is now back on the mooring on which you saw her in 2004. Regards, HughC.

Yes she is. We sold her in 2000 as a fully fitted camper and that was a mistake. When she came up for sale by the receiver she was behind a hedge near Tamworth. CTS, I believe, then recabined her as she was destined to work with 'Aldridge?' She ended up at Stretton and from there I bought her. A nostalgic impulse buy perhaps? She is in fine fettle and awaits painting and a cabin refit. Daniel has made new running gear and we have fitted new top cloths. The side cloths await. We intend running her with Heyford as a family camper. Regards, HughC

As Tom has said the Erewash joins the Cromford with an end on junction just below the Cromford's bottom lock. Above this lock the Nottingham and Cromford meet with both having a basin at the junction separated only by a stop lock. Regards, HughC.

It is worth remembering that the properly shaped wide boats built to use the lower Grand Union were barrel sided and had a seven foot wide base plate to minimise the problems of a restricted channel. From the photographs available they were beautiful boats but they still did not work north of Berko. HughC

As can be seen in one of the photographs on the front of the forward pair of cylinders is a mounting point for a steady bar. This was a standard Kelvin fitting for the diesel engines and was usually extended to the hull side. In Judith Ann we have what is in effect a six inch thick ten inch deep lining plank and this on a four plank hull means that rigidity is really not a problem. I eventually chose not to fit a water cooled engine because I came to the conclusion that direct water cooling was a definite non-starter. Been there , done that. That left some form of keel cooling and, since a skin tank doesn't really work in a wooden hull, this means external piping. Considering the things I have hit over the years I decided this would be constant worry. Giving up the K2 installation was a wrench but the AS2 has its compensations. Regards, HughC.