magpie patrick

Just to comment - I use the auto-merge as a feature to enable posts with multiple pics, as the maximum file size is easily exceeded in just one post. Some of my posts such as the Highlands holiday would make a lot less sense without post merge. Sometimes the best thing to do with an irritating feature is to embrace it and use it to your advantage, which I find true in life as well as on the forum....

L'art pour l'art - I'd rather individuality than dull conformity, even though it means I won't like everything. Art brightens the world up, and this one has got people talking about the canal at Tinsley.

The part of the basin the wheel docks in (or at Anderton, the caisson drops into) is dry - separated from the rest of the canal by a gate. When the tank carrying the boat is in place a gate on the tank and one on the canal opens - the same arrangement as at the top. If the area the wheel landed in was flooded a lot more power would be needed to complete the circle as the lift would no longer balance. The Lynton and Lynmouth cliff railway is powered by filling a tank on the descending carriage - that said filling those beaks with water and emptying them again would probably be a lot of faff and a bit of a maintenance liability! Having been in brainstorming workshops for similar projects I'll bet someone did think of it though, and it would have been worked through

The bottom basin is dry, like Anderton. A neat trick might have been to fill the top beak with water, and drain it out of the lower one, the lift could then rotate on the descending weight. I don't know whether they thought of that.

I guess there is a slightly higher instance of locks being turned without a boat in them if there are two available, but it's more likely that the one taken out of use has been ashed up or similar to reduce leakage.

That's quite an achievement getting it wedged like that It is, I must admit my first thought was that, with care, boats could be got through with a sunken boat there, but I guess the risk assessment would give the the assessor apoplexy. You did what?

Bit more from the Highland Adventure - we stopped at Falkirk for one night on the way up, first the obligatory picture of the Kelpies. They are spectacular, IMHO opinion this knocks the Falkirk Wheel, The Angel of the North, even Eiffel Tower into a cocked hat for the sheer audacity of the sculptures, especially as the light can come through them. When the history of restoration is written, this will be one of the odder stories - "how was the canal extended under the motorway?" - "och, we built a couple of giant horses heads", for it was these that got the money for the canal. Next up the original "lock 2" (the Millennium restoration didn't have a lock 1) First question - I assume this lock is now closed as there is a new, more satisfactory route? But it looks operational. This lock leads straight to the River Carron to get under the M8 motorway, whereas the new route that passes between the Kelpies has a canal bridge under the motorway - at the moment I think that is the only totally new canal crossing of an existing motorway. This is the new lock (which sits between the Keplies) and the new motorway bridge Before we get onto the wheel, a shot of light coming through the Kelpies. BTW, I assume the story of the Kelpies is well known, if anyone wants a brief summary ask and I will do my best Now to the wheel, I think we all know what it looks like but here is a picture - and a hint, the trip is not best when it's raining hard. You either can't see through the windows or you open them and get severely dripped on! Second question - on the commentary the guy said that when the wheel was being planned there was no thought of it being a tourist attraction and they only started to make it such when people came to see it anyway - is that true? I'm pretty sure I recall seeing publicity for the project that included trip boats and a visitor centre, including amphibious boats that would cruise up the lift and through the tunnel and drive over the top to get back. Does anyone know any more?

One wonders how they planned to link the Glamorgan and Neath Canals - if we can find the details, I might resurrect the idea! It would be quite a job cataloging the canals and navigations on these plans that were eventually never built, and an interesting parallel with waterway restoration now - I have guide books for canals that were expected to reopen and never have.

Northwich paddle gear miles from home - acting to open a relief sluice on the Neath Canal just above Lock Machin, the canal is owned by St Modwens, so how they got one of these I do not know

Karma based dunking sounds a grand concept, I guess one would have to rely on Karma to do the dunking bit though 🤭

That you can say that to someone who has admitted to having a terminal illness (admittedly one that is being managed and thus prolonging my life significantly) says more about you than it does about me. In certain instances, that is exactly what the NHS are saying, but it doesn't suit your narrative. And I am happy, I have walked a couple of hundred miles of canal this year, visited the Caledonian Canal with my beautiful partner, we dance regularly and attend ballet and concerts, and I have watched numerous football matches. I have a good life, but while I've a way to go yet I will probably be gone sooner than seems fair on the partner and her daughter (my stepdaughter) - it's a sobering thought. Me being happy isn't incompatible with the NHS refusing to treat overweight people, even if that category included me.

If you stop smoking you are no longer a smoker, and in my case if I lost weight I was no longer overweight. The second instance is a false analogy, often that kind of operation is done to prolong a sporting career, as being physically active is seen as a good thing. In my case it's such a good thing they would probably go to great lengths to keep me active

I have recently been assessed for a lung transplant - thankfully my condition has stabilised so I won't need it now. However during the assessments I was advised that smokers will not be given a transplant (I don't smoke, not a problem) and that I needed to lose a stone. I'm not exactly obese but my weight would significantly reduce my survival chances. These restrictions are so they don't waste good lungs, smoking is obvious, but if you die on the operating table the donor lung is wasted. In case your wondering - I've lost a stone! See above - in some instances yes

As well as speed there is capacity to consider - on the more popular waterways the locks are in constant use. Taking 15 minutes to get through instead of 10 significantly reduces the number of boats that can get through.

Ooooooo! As I host a folk radio show I would also be very interested in any recordings! Thank you for highlighting these songs to me 😀