Liam

Browsing the CRT archives and I came across these pictures. Can anyone help identify the pair, especially the motor? Captioned as (obviously) an empty and clothed up British Waterways pair passing through the Anderton Boat Lift onto the T&M. It's an interesting picture as they're both empty, yet clothed up and upon leaving the lift, the motor takes the Butty on a line rather than cross straps as I'd have expected? I think there's some text on the motors cloths... but should have gone to specsavers The link to the archive page is... http://collections.canalrivertrust.org.uk/bw200.1.99.39 To me the Butty has the look of one of the cabined Yarwoods LMS station boats about it... but can't make out any other distinguishing features...

"Roach" didn't sell to Chamberlain Carrying Co, he sold out to Charlton Whitehouse Fuels. Chamberlain are continuing to supply some customers on the Llangollen & Shropshire Union. Up until retirement, John & Jenny Jackson supplied many boat and land based establishments with their products for resale. You would find coal bags with "John Jackson Roach" on them all over the system. John and Jenny supplies many coal boats too such as Richard and Ruth (Chamberlain), all of the Jules Fuels fleet and of course myself and others. After all those years building the business to what it is today, must of been a bloody hard decision to make, especially parting with your boat after 30 years of ownership. Best of luck to them both. Time to kick back and take it easy and enjoy retirement now. They certainly deserve it.

The sale went through yesterday. Re-branding taking place today at Crick.

@RLWPWill message you...

Any luck Richard?

There's also water and elsan disposal at Butt's Bridge - on the offside between the basin and the bridge itself.

Thanks Richard... and if you also have a fuel lift pump let me know and I'll give you a call to arrange

Thanks Richard. Would you know a source for these pushrods at all? Liam

Hopefully picture attached.. The crank case door does have the mount for the lift pump but I have no idea what's behind it. Please excuse the dishevelled state of the engine and paint

A Lister HA2 has been running via a gravity fed top tank. To create more space in the engine room I'd like to remove the very large top tank and feed directly from the main fuel tank which is at or just below engine level and so I'd need a lift pump. My question is - were all HA2's fitted with the capability of having a fuel pump installed or is the lever operated by the cam an after-market extra? Do I need to source the connecting rod separately? Edited to add - it's a HA2M with a build date of 1959. Engine number 1439. Thanks in advance

This is the boat that was / is called Heart of Oak and based at the Pickerings Bridge moorings at Grappenhall on the Bridgewater Canal. I've known this boat since around 1996 and was ownded by an elderly gentleman. During one of our many short conversations he said that the boat was built initially as one of the ferries for crossing the Manchester Ship Canal. He died years ago, no idea of dates, and the boat passed to a woman who hung around mainly in Stockton Heath. It then passed to her son when she upgraded to a larger standard narrowboat. This boat had 2 cabins at different heights and widths. The inside was stripiped and the forward end of the cabin was removed by the son leaving the boat as seem in the picture. Unfortunately the boat was left with a poorly covered "open hold" and sank a couple of times before being pumped out. The engine, a very small single cylinder diesel expired and maybe still on the bank at Pickerings Bridge. I towed this boat from Stockton Heath to the dry dock at Runcorn (Sprinch dock) and was surprised at the weight of it compared to the size.

Thanks Ray I will follow that up

Thanks Sam, that could be handy. I could collect on my way through.

I am looking to purchase a wooden tiller handle to fit a 40mm internal diameter tube. A quick Google gives me lots of suppliers but these are all for smaller diameter tubes. So I think 40mm is an odd ball size, so would probably need to go down the route of custom made. If anyone can point me in the right direction please? I'd like to support canal based traders / smaller businesses preferably. Thanks

No good though if you are booked to go down into Salthouse Dock!

Yes the LH150 is the hydraulic box and lots are matched to Lister SR/ST's. There is also an option for the LM100 gearbox (manual).

As its for the large lock this will obviously be on the River Weaver

Yes Preston Brook Marina has 2 slipways. The only other place with a slipway is Hesford Marine near Lymm. Alternatively, launch it further afield such as at Anderton or Aqueduct Marina and boat to the Bridgewater.

The Boat & Butty at Runcorn http://boatandbutty.co.uk

Which is fair enough, it's got to be give and take not just take take take!

Strange, they still have the choice on the online booking form for Bridgewater Canal license holders to book in free of charge as part of the agreement? I booked in towards the back end of last year for April and May of this year with no mention of an extra charge. (I hold a CRT license too but for simplicity, book in as a Bridgewater boat, as that's my primary license) The same applied to my parents boat, which is Bridgewater registered only, they're booked in for May and have had no issue being a Bridgewater registered boat.

On the, I think three, occasions that I've been it's the actual boat's history that matters not what's currently painted on the side. If it was built by Yarwoods or Woolwich for the GU, whether it's been painted in Blue and Yellow, or carries the various GU liveries, Willow Wren or a new/private colour scheme it's been allowed in on a GU year. The same applies to FMC's when it's their year. I've seen boats originally built for FMC painted in a variety of schemes allowed in, whether this was something such as Barlows or now a canal society such as the Chesterfield or Coventry societies. It's the boat and it's history which should be taken into consideration not what is painted on the side Maybe one year they should have a "Wooden Boat" year!

The Bridgewater Reciprocal agreement lets you travel to/from Liverpool if booked in to go down into Salthouse Dock. Between Altrincham and Stockton Heath there's no shortage of mooring sites, but whether any of them have any vacancies is another question! Here's a list of the mooring sites you may want to investigate. Oldfield Quays, Oldfield Brow, Altrincham (Bridgewater Canal Co) Ye Olde No 3 moorings, Little Bollington (Bridgewater Canal Co) Lymm Marina moorings, in Agden, Lymm (Private) Barn Owl pub moorings in Agden, Lymm (Private) Bridgeworks at Lloyds Bridge, Outrington, Lymm (Private) Massey Brook on the south side of Lymm (Bridgewater Canal Co) Pickerings Bridge in Grappenhall (Bridgewater Canal Co) S&A Marina, Cliff Lane, Grappenhall (Bridgewater Canal Co) Stockton Lane, Grappenhall (Bridgewater Canal Co) Stockton Quays by the London Bridge Pub, Stockton Heath (private) Opposite Moore Post Office (private) Hope that helps Liam

I collected the only remaining Tomlow from the Midland Chandlers stock from the Braunston shop before Christmas. As it was listed as "end of line" it was heavily discounted and less than the price you mentioned for an Epping. Midland Chandlers haven't sold an Epping in the recent past as far as I know? It may be a case of biding your time as Steve Priest of Brinklow Boat Services has mentioned, if I remember correctly, that they've changed firms for the casting process and production will start again at some point once things have been sorted out.