magpie patrick

Sorry, late to the party! Following @1st ade invitation, I tend only to get involved when restoration and the local authority heritage conservation officer collide. As a general rule we don't know the composition of the mortar on particular structures without a sample analysis. Two observations, the original would be very local in origin, and subsequent repairs may not have been faithful to the original. Loathe as I am to criticise the local authority officer, we do get some bizarre ideas. One asked for mortar to match the original on a boundary wall in Frome (Dissenters Cemetery) - analysis showed it contained ash from Frome Power Station. The officer struggled with why we couldn't get this any more... Ystalyfera aqueduct on the Swansea Canal was thought to be one of the earliest canal structures to use hydraulic lime - link below, however I think earlier ones may have now been noted. Even when the claim was made it was acknowledged the Romans had used it, but we then forgot the technology Afon Twrch Aqueduct Ystalyfera - Welsh monument database

The ground paddle dates from when the lock could work either way, falling to the Thames as well as away from it. Most ground paddles will struggle to seal if the head is reversed so clearly there's something different about this one. The mechanism may not be quite that old but it predates nationalisation.. There was a ground paddle at the other end too, when the lock is drained for maintenance the culvert can still be seen.

Not my pictures - but around two years ago I met the Louth Navigation Trust and as we walked and talked we had a conversation along the lines that getting access to the water on the seven mile level from Tetney would be a good plan. A slipway perhaps... About that time the warehouse at Austen Fen was being sold, and the new owners also thought this was a splendid idea - so splendid they went and did it. If I have the details right the owners got all the permissions and the Louth Navigation Trust found grant funding (it is mostly on EA land) - it's now in use and the water accessible. Okay just for paddles at the moment but from small seeds... The Louth Canal is unlikely to ever be a major holiday waterway, unconnected, only 11 miles and with seven of its eight locks in the top four miles. But personally I think this is wonderful - but then I do have a soft spot for Louth and its Canal. Photos by Chau Lee, one of the new owners of the warehouse, taken from the Louth Navigation Trust Facebook page - link here for those who "do" Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/478410456289005/permalink/1861313831331987/

Draycott - Network Rail (or Railtrack I think) paid for it to be dug out again. This was in about 1995

As you can see above, the specified trailer isn't a flatbed, and has four runners for the boat to slide on during launch and retrieval - it won't slide much but it is likely to slide a bit during this. These runners also bear the load and match the hull moulding. If you use a flatbed ask yourself how you'll get the boat on and off and make sure it isn't going to place a load on the hull where it shouldn't

As a general rule you can only insure against the party being unable to go on the holiday e.g. for health reasons. If the boat yard can't give you the holiday because of navigation issues that's a completely different matter, most will cover this in their terms and conditions. Often hire companies will move boats away if the navigation is closed, so you'll still get a holiday, just not where you thought you were going to get one!

Thanks Derek, the book clearly states the idea developed to increase bridge longevity by protecting the main elements from the weather. The book refers to the number of joints involved in a wooden bridge of any significant span, and I believe joints are where rot sets in first. Although it's a slim volume I haven't finished the book yet as I bought four more the same day and I keep reading those too! As well as doing Internet searches to add to what I'm learning. I now understand the difference beyond King trusses and Queen trusses for example.

This is very true, the Whitewater Canal being a case in point I find. Apparently it opened in full in 1847 but the same year parts were washed away in floods, some of the damage was never repaired. The canal as a whole lasted only a few months, although some bits traded for many years before the canal was completed and after the floods closed part of it. I'm only one page ahead at the moment, so the above is almost all I know...

According to the book they were used because open bridges didn't last more than about twenty years, the rainfall is cited but I guess it would be a combination of rain, wind and sun that would do the damage. I'm not entirely clear whether the open bridges that preceded them were truss bridges and thus the covered bridge was just a truss bridge with cladding. As for the aqueduct, my thoughts were the same as @Pluto - what's the point in stopping it getting wet! More research needed...

Took the Stepdaughter to the American Museum in Claverton today. Whilst there I attempted to rectify the shortage of books in my collection 🤭 with several purchases including this one. "Covered Bridges" - I've known of their existence and even driven over a few, but knew nothing about them. Imagine my delight on finding within a picture of a covered aqueduct! Apparently its on the Whitewater Canal in Indiana - so I'm off to research that now! It seems there is always something out there to discover.

Caen Hill has back pumps - water supply is not the issue. All the CCERS I know do go up Caen Hill and stay above for several weeks. Their view is that this keeps them off the radar. Obviously there are many I don't know and they may well not do this. Some do go on the river in Summer as well. Going to Pewsey OR Hanham as well as Bath to Foxhangers would get over the line on CRT range each year, you don't need to do both.

This would seem to suggest Fernando didn't simply wander off

Note the indicating I'm not being entirely serious There was a period of time when BW were reluctant to acknowledge the existence of waterways that weren't theirs and this was a reference to that.

In BW days I'm fairly sure the source was a few hundred yards above Stourport.

I would say it's codswallop, except cod probably don't get that far upriver! The depth of a chamber can be a lot more than the fall of the lock - add freeboard and depth over the invert then I can believe that the Severn Locks might be pushing 25-30 feet, but the Manchester Ship Canal has a minimum depth over the cill of 26 feet, making Latchford Lock chamber around 50 feet depth when you add freeboard, fall of the lock and a bit more over the invert compared to the cill. CRT fictional facts I think....

To apply for a licence the most important bit is you need a boat - it is boats that are licensed not people.

This could see a revival of smaller waterways - how about the Shropshire Hot Tub Boat Canals. The inclined planes might cause spillages though...

Lots of stolen boats then?