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I believe Joel originally had a petrol/paraffin E2 so surprisingly small. I’m sure Tom must have one kicking around if you decide that would be more historically appropriate… Alec

There is a difference in what a Society can do on a disused canal and on a 'live' canal. I can imagine that most boaters would be somewhat unhappy about 20+ year closures whilst locks were rebuilt. If you look at the work currently undertaken by volunteers on CRT waters, it largely consists of trimming/cutting back vegetation, painting, greasing, installation of mileposts and benches, none of which are critical to the operation of the canal (although many of them do make it more pleasant to use). It is a practical point that the ongoing costs of maintenance need to be met, and also that this is a challenge with the current network which would not be made easier with additional mileage to maintain, but as @Richard Fairhurst points out, there is almost no connection between current restoration projects and increasing costs in the next 25 years. Thinking about the digging that we did together with WRG around 25-30yrs ago, the only length of canal which has transitioned from unnavigable to navigable that we ever worked on is the short stretch of the Wendover arm up to the winding hole (oh, and I did repair some stonework on one of the locks that is now navigable on the Montgomery). This is the reality of restoration projects - the first round in the 1960s/early 1970s were easy and led to rapid re-opening, without which much of the network would be substantially devalued; the next round has achieved some interesting routes which are probably under-utilised for cruising and could do with work on the infrastructure; any further re-openings will be very slow, not add any mileage of consequence for decades to come and hence are a different question entirely to ongoing maintenance of the network Alec

‘A homely girl named Lisa Couldn’t get a geezer Her mother told her “darling don’t you cry You can knock ‘em down like skittles With some farinaceous vittles You’ll always get a guy with a pie”’ John Cooper Clarke

Certainly not quite as bad as I had thought. The Elsan point at Bunbury is quite near Calveley, but it would make it practical to moor between the staircase and Tilstone and use a trolley along the towpath. That is a particularly attractive stretch. The fact that there is still an Elsan point in Chester Basin makes that length between Chester and Ellesmere completely practical - just need to periodically go to whichever end is closer (or whichever direction you are pointing in). It would be useful if there was something on the fairly long pound between the top of Chester and Wharton lock but I doubt it will happen. Alec

A good welder would be able to do this without disturbing anything else. The challenge would be finding someone who you know to be good enough. We have a welded up porthole in the side of our boat and you won't find it (I didn't do the welding!) but I have welded a few small areas and for what you are describing, welding in corners only to create a radius, you could do this in very short runs and would not need to ensure absolutely full penetration (not structural) so the heat could be managed, as could the distortion. But, if you don't have a problem with minimising weight higher up, and you don't mind drilled and tapped holes, David's suggestion is much easier as a DIY job. I personally have an aversion to making extra holes as I see them as yet more potential leak points to be managed, but that's just a personal opinion. Alec

I was thinking more along the lines that, with where she is travelling from, the OP will need to pass through that stretch in both directions (assuming that, given her aversion to deep water, she really does not want to go down the MSC). That means she will be passing through those locks twice anyway, so my thought was that rather than treating it as somewhere to get through (the canal equivalent of a motorway) there are actually enough pleasant places to stop along that route to add another few weeks each way to the journey with some time around Tilstone and Waverton on the way out and Christleton and between Tattenhall and the Shady Oak on the way back, potentially also a couple of days around Beeston. The OP did originally have a car, so if she still does, the places I have identified are handy as I know there are decent parking spots. If not, the desirable time to spend there may be reduced due to lack of access to shops and other facilities. On the point of facilities, that does seem to have become something of an issue on the whole stretch between Barbridge and Ellesmere Port. I am aware of a few remaining water points but the only Elsan points I know to still be working are the ones at Calveley and Ellesmere Port, the services at Chester Basin being, I believe, now effectively permanently closed. I suppose it may also be possible to use the facilities at either Tattenhall or Chas Hardern's, for a fee. This may be a bit more restrictive on a decent cruising pattern on that length. Alec

I would actually go further and say the Shropshire Union is pretty quiet at most places between Ellesmere Port and Audlem, the exceptions being Golden Nook, Barbridge to the middle of Nantwich and between Bunbury and Calveley (above the staircase locks), although it is a bit near the main road between Calveley and Barbridge at some points. If you don't need too much in the way of shop access, I reckon there are a few great spots between Beeston and Bunbury, ranging from almost moorland to feeling like it is in a tranquil river valley (although no need to worry @KezzerN, it is actually still the canal). That stretch rivals the Llangollen and the Caldon for attractiveness. On the subject of the Llangollen, I recommend October/early November, while the leaves are still on the trees. It's pretty quiet the whole way up and very very pretty. It is also worth nipping down the three arms - Prees is very rural and you may well not see another boat, Whitchurch is likely to busier but has some nice moorings and Ellesmere allows you to moor right outside Tesco (we were very tempted to try and use the wharf crane to load the shopping...!) Alec

That's where you need your hull to be Birmingham square, as I would imagine @5239 has. Alec

I wanted to comment on the width question, since this has been a recurring theme. We have a much narrower boat that standard. It is only 6'10" for about 3' or so near the centre (which actually corresponds with the bathroom into the engine room). It is mostly around 6'6", tapering out to just under 6' by the bow doors and 5'6" by the stern doors. Apart from not having a cross bed, we have not had any issues from the width. There are a few design elements which deliberately address width, for example we have an L galley rather than units both sides, but except when people are trying to pass each other through the boat it really doesn't make much difference and it certainly isn't the first thing which strikes you about it (I can't remember whether it was three or four of us in the front cabin including @Francis Herne at Bradley last year, so Francis can probably comment on the width aspect more objectively than me as I am used to it). Obviously it helps to have more, and perhaps future design will use a composite approach to reduce narrowing, but I certainly don't think it is unworkable with good design. Alec

The figure is irrelevant to the reality of the housing situation, however it could potentially become a much bigger issue on a political scale. Westminster deals in votes. If organisations such as NBTA can achieve a public perception for its members that their homes are under threat then it would be damaging to an MP's futures votes from their electorate (and hence keeping their job) to back a measure which would be presented as such. It is therefore much easier for CRT to keep the whole thing away from Westminster and keep it Whitehall. Alec Edited to add: not a political point as in belongs in the politics section, but an observational point of a previous example. During the Brexit negotiations, the ability for the automotive industry to trade with the EU was almost sacrificed in the interests of the fishing industry. The former employs around 800,000 people, the latter around 11,000, but it was much more vocal and managed to create an emotive message which gained political traction because it appealed to voters.

Assuming there are more children (a larger family was mentioned) there are several contenders. Assuming Elizabeth was born in ~1892 as per the census, she would have been 45 in ~1937 so that sets a date range. William appears to have been registered in Congleton in Q2 1919 with George also in Congleton in Q1 1921, both of which tie in with the age at census. I can't see any more registered in Congleton but Kenneth (Northwich, Q2 1924) and Charles (Stoke on Trent, Q1 1926) look possible and Winifred E (Stoke on Trent, Q1 1927) looks highly likely given the family names. There are also Ivy (Northwich, Q2 1929) and Alfred (Stoke on Trent, Q1 1932). I can't see census data, but I suspect if I could I would find a separate O'Neill family in Northwich but the Stoke on Trent names look plausible. Alec

Married in the third quarter of 1918, registered in Wolstanton, Staffs? Alec

Ours is 38'. It sleeps four comfortably - two on the front bench seats (bedding packs away underneath during the day and two in a double at the stern which can be packed away if you want to walk through, or left made up if you don't mind walking round the gunwhales and in through the side hatches. Shorter boats are cheaper to buy, licence, moor and maintain. Not always a consideration, but something to bear in mind. Alec

I think it probably is about the difference in surface preparation. ST2 is sufficient for Intergard 5000 and Jotamastic 90 and (as you will know only too well from your hull cleaning work) the difference in time between getting to ST2 and ST2.5 can be huge. I have done a fair amount of cabinet blast cleaning prior to thermal spray protection and that needs SA3. Many lunch breaks spent getting various bits of engine and Land Rover to that spec, starting with chilled iron and finishing with fine alumina. Alec p.s. I had a copy of ISO8501(2007) at home last year as I was working from it for a report. It's the version with the photographs in it. My wife went through it to see whether there were any specifications bad enough to describe the pitting on our boat hull. The answer was no..!

I think there must be a difference somewhere between what you did and what I did - could be process or it could be target result. I certainly didn't find it too bad, although my arms ached, a lot. I did the whole of our hull (38') in just over a day. I used a heavy twist knotted wire wheel first which took all the heavier deposits off including any residual paint, pretty much in one pass, followed by a drill-mounted wire brush on the pitted areas. I used that because periodically reversing it means it cuts rather than polishes. I wasn't aiming for a perfect finish, just black rather than any red rust. The surface tolerant primers will cope with a bit residual very well adhered rust. Nowhere near as good as grit blasting but needs must (can't re-blast wrought iron endlessly and it had been done before at least twice). Alec

It wouldn't do any harm to have epoxy on the baseplate and bitumen on the sides. If you were having the bottom blasted so that you could find any pitting and get it welded up first then you might as well get the sides done too as most of the cost of blasting is getting things set up, so no point paying for that twice. However, if you are not having any blasting done then cleaning off the bottom with a twist knotted wire brush on an angle grinder will do a pretty good job, and will get down into the pits, so long as they are small enough. It's a horrible job but fairly quick to do an area. You tend to end up lying on your back, working above your head - some PPE is strongly advisable - angle grinders don't automatically switch off when they twist out of your hands... If your prep method is less thorough then blasting, it would be advisable to use a surface tolerant epoxy, at least as the priming layer. Jotun 90 is a reasonable option for this. An aluminium loaded surface tolerant epoxy such as Intergard 5000 is even better, but a lot more expensive. It depends on whether you think of offsetting the cost by doing the work yourself and spend the money on the paint, or whether you would rather save the money and don't feel the benefit is sufficient to justify the cost. Ideally you would then remove the bitumen from the sides before painting with epoxy, perhaps at a later date when funds allow. Alec

I find a Sharpie is a good alternative. Alec

I can't help with the location I'm afraid, although I do observe the absence of a towpath which may help in identifying the location. However, as you go through these photographs I wonder whether you could keep an eye out for something? One of the six iron BCN ice boats, Empress, allegedly finished up being used as a mud hopper on the Coventry canal. It would have gone there sometime after 1963 and appears to have gone by 1980 (nobody knows where) but if you run across any photographs which look like they could be it they would be very useful as it is one of the boats I have no pictures of and no fate for, so building up a history would help. Thanks Alec

@stagedamager has the real Judith Ann and may have a photograph showing the internal layout of the back cabin? Alec

Oates has this, bearing in mind that it was originally a horse drawn open ice boat so the counter and the cabin are much later. It draws as much as a carrying boat and the cabin clears the Dudley tunnel, but the hydraulic drive means we have over 6'8" of headroom in the cabin. It does make it somewhat cavernous inside, with deeper steps down than usual but this works fine. It isn't trying to emulate a long distance back cabin - the eventual aim is something based on Judith Ann, the layout for which can be seen in Ken Keay's sketchbook. Alec

Thanks for that - looks like it might be a better choice for the front cabin where my wife and elder daughter tend to draw/paint/work on craft projects. Alec

If you or @KezzerN are still trying to follow the original point of this thread, whilst I can't add anything useful on the original lamp in question, I can say that I have found some decent lighting from this Ebay seller: https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/valleylighting. No connection other than as a satisfied customer, having been able to get our back cabin light fittings working again on 15mm bayonet fitting LEDs from them. They have various different colour temperatures of LED available if you search the site, including direct LED replacements for filament bulbs which can be handy if you have a preferred light and want to swap the bulb to run it at 12V. Alec

I agree that's the most likely. The guard irons look right, unlike any of the other four. Although the pigeon box hasn't always been present (not sure whether or not it currently is?) it was present when working. That may also allow the photograph to be dated? Alec