Liam

Yes the Bridgewater is all clear between Leigh and the northern side of the breach.

Nope, the big hole still remains...

More modern? The Lister HR2 is a 1960s based engine, where as the RN and Gardner designs somewhat predates that! However those options do give you the added benefit of hot water via the water cooling system.

Can I ask where you sourced your Tokheim fuel pump from? They're bloody good pumps them 👍

Sustrans have no interest in that section of the towpath as it comes under Warrington Borough Council who refused to chip in years ago when the "Bridgewater Way" scheme came into being. The towpath wasn't upgraded and so that's why there's no cycling permitted (officially!) from Altrincham through to Moore!

I can't remember the exact contents of the letter so won't try one quote anything here now, incase I get it wrong and get lynched! But there's no mention of an insurance payout in the letter, that came from the engineer at a user group meeting. Edited to add - came from the engineer after concerns were raised about commiting to the financial side over the breach.

I'm out boating at the moment but can share on here when I get back 🙂

Me! 🙂

The 1971 breach was the reason the Bridgewater Trust was formed, which was a "get together" of all the councils in the area which the canal ran through. Manchester, Salford, Wigan, Trafford, Warrington and Halton (as it is now, not sure what it was back then) which came up with the funding for the restoration. Although the breach took 2 years to fix back then, The actual ground works only took 8 months, the rest of the time was taken with sorting out who's paying for what, and probably a lot of arguments embetween. Of course the Bridgewater Trust is still in existence, I beleive, but the money to fix it this time is, I've heard, coming through a rather large insurance claim! And of course the delay will be a knock on effect of that, and with all the rest of the H&S etc that goes with it. If you're a Bridgewater license holder you would have received a letter through the post from the Bridgewater Canal Co with information on the breach, confirming that they will be repairing it and the appropriate time frames for the work.

When you're cranking can you hear the injectors squeeking, and is there any exhaust smoke? I would concur you need to bleed the air from the pump, probably at least once as mostly you don't get it all first time around.

Bring your boat over, we'll find you a spot.

The winding hole on the north side of Ye Olde No 3 by the Swan with 2 Nicks is still open and the furthest point you can on the southern side, and whilst you can turn a 70ft boat around there it's quite a tight spot now, because of the chain across the canal which is protecting the temporary damn. HTH Liam

Ack. Sounds like the routers borked.

Can you try your phone SIM in the router?

Can you download the firmware update file to.your computer using the house internet, and then connect your computer to the router to do a manual firmware update by uploading the file to it rather than downloading it?

@junior if you're really stuck and struggling with it, you can drop it off at ours if you want for me to look at? I'm out on the boat at the mo but back tomorrow. Would just need the router, power cable and SIM card mate 👍

Nor sure whether it's related or not, but the mobile mast in the field behind us has had a bunch of guys working on it for the past few days. It hasn't really interfered with me (Vodafone) but Kez on Smarty has had "emergency calls only" for several hours at random times during the day, so could be related as you're only on the other side of the tunnel. I think the mast is owned by Vodafone but the QoS policy on the masts gives the mast owner's network preference and dumps the 3rd party users so could be why.

I've used the black high heat exhaust paint from Halfords a few times. It comes in a very small tin but it's suprising how far it goes. A tin will give you a couple of coats on an Epping style stove with plenty left over. You need to brush it on but dries very quickly with no visible brush marks and there's zero smell or fumes even when you relight it an hour after painting.

The only Waterways World links I can find require a login, which I don't have, but here's a Facebook post from the Lymm Heritage Centre after Andrew Denny's visit. And another quote from the Bridgewater Canal Co taken directly from their Facebook page... 📣 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥: 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐦 On the morning of 1st January 2025, the Bridgewater Canal team responded swiftly to reports of a possible canal breach near Dunham, adjacent to the River Bollin in Cheshire. Emergency stoplogs were installed at Adgen and Dunham to isolate the affected section, successfully dewatering approximately 3km of the canal. This action prevented a full loss of the canal andmitigated further flooding caused by the extreme weather. We have been working closely with the Strategic and Tactical Command Group, chaired by Cheshire Police, alongside multi-agency partners to ensure safety and support for all affected parties. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: • Direct support: On 1st January, Cheshire Police contacted all directly affected parties, offering support and alternative accommodation. The Bridgewater Canal team followed up by phone on 2nd January and in person on 3rd January. • Stoplogs and earth dam: Since the stoplogs were installed, our team has prioritised efforts to stem the flow of canal water. On 4th January, an additional earth dam was constructed at School Lane in Dunham Massey, and we are confident that leakage has now ceased. This will continue to be closely monitored. • Amenities for boaters: Additional water has been delivered to the Ye Old No.3 moorings, and temporary toilets and waste disposal facilities are being arranged. A generator, supplied by a moorer, is providing power to boats moored to the right of the visitor moorings, with Bridgewater Canal supplying fuel. • Planned refloating of boats: We intend to install dams near the breach area to refloat the boats at Ye Old No.3 and other affected vessels. Water control specialists visited site on 6th January to assess the feasibility and time frame for this work. 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬: • Regular monitoring of stoplogs and the earth dam to ensure robust short- and medium-term water retention. • Investigating the cause of the embankment failure. • Developing a comprehensive repair strategy and we will be working closely with stakeholders to implement it. If you or another directly affected party require additional assistance, please email: bridgewatercanal@peel.co.uk or call 0161 629 8432. We kindly ask the public to stay away from the affected area and respect both canal and towpath closures. Further updates will be shared as more information becomes available. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation, Peter Parkinson - Director - Bridgewater Canal I have highlighted the important bit in bold text.

Andrew Denny, editor of Waterways World contacted the Bridgewater Canal Company directly for a press release. I'm not sure whether it was in the magazine as I haven't read one for years but definitely read it online. I'll try and find it.

They've already said they'll fix it publically/officially. Keep up at the back! 😉

Hit and miss for me, sometimes I just get a delivery note, sometimes I sign and then get a delivery note.... But on all occasions it's always after the delivery had taken place so any terms etc on the note wouldn't be valid until I'd signed or received it. A bit late when there's a few hundred litres over the floor!

With bulk deliveries from a fuel tanker, you can in fact turn off the supply at the delivery end of the hose. It's basically a big ball valve type tap, and I've utilised it myself many times when taking on a delivery of fuel. I have 2 large retail tanks on mine, and add up the empty capacity and generally order anything from 2500 to 4600 litres. One tank is filled until either full, or the boat is listing alarmingly! before being shut off at the delivery end and swapping the nozzle over to the other tank. Fuel tanks with the filler directly above and into the tank like the majority are these days are the easiest to fill, but you do have to keep an eye on the last few inches. The diesel filler cap onboard boats usually has a hose tail which drops in to the tank and can hit the bottom of that, and thence come up the filler point whilst the tank is still a few inches down. Other boats with a relatively easy piped connection to the tank are straight forward if a little slower to enable fuel in and air to evacuate. I have filled up a few Hudson built boats and I won't beat around the bush when I say they are a bloody nightmare. Even with the fuel nozzle barely trickling it always comes back at you, no matter how slowly you go, with regular short breaks after a few seconds of delivery. I've no idea how the connection runs from fill point to tank on Hudsons but I assume it's somewhat akin to a ball of spaghetti. Also rather annoying is when somebody asks for 20 litres of fuel in the traditional style jerry can which has a small dent in it. I always stick to putting 19 litres in now!

I've never stopped to look and find out, but there was a rumour that, a few years ago after some heavy flooding, large boulders were dropped in place to try and reduce the water erosion on the brick supports but it had the opposite effect and channeled the water between the brick supports and boulders, which ran faster and caused more of a potential erosion issue! I also hard that they put those marker sticks in? (Which snap with movement) and every single one broke within a couple of weeks.

I'm sure every time I go over it, there's a more pronounced sagging of the towpath...