alan_fincher

Yes "cold cranking amps" (or "CCA") is what is most important for a starter battery. Amp Hours (or "Ah") is far less relevant. This is because you want it to supply very (very) big currents for a short period only, being quite different from a leisure battery which needs to be able only to supply very much smaller currents, but continuously over a number of hours. A starter battery ranging from (say) 700CCA to 900CCA should be far more than you need,

Yes, I'm sure spud has it. I was also coming up with Mindon Marine.

Great photo Ian. I don't think I have ever seen one that shows the actual tanks until now. I assume they may have been travelling empty in this photo - they look too high out of the water to be carrying a meaningful load.

That sounds about right to me....

I'm not sure this is correct - I don't think HYDRUS was ever a Willow Wren boat. I think it was a BW boat that was sold directly by them into private ownership, then converted.

Boom! boom! From memory I think not a lot of Achilles ended up in this boat.

OK. I own up - I was wrong! The tug TYBURN did indeed work on the Wyvern Shipping hire fleet, under the name of PERSEVERANCE. Sorry for any confusion!

I thought I had a reasonable memory of what "historic" boats had served in the Wyvern fleet. I certainly don't recall ever hearing about TYBURN, although it is perfectly possible I am wrong.

People seem to keep referring to this as riveted. Is it? Does it? It loooks like the flat(ish) room has large holes in it.

Errm yes....... The article linked to is clearly the work of Allan Richards, (or at the very least he has had strong input to it). It is typical Allan Richards; sensationalism - produce a story, but be "creative" to beef up the headline!

Unless I'm confusing it with something else, then the carrier was Birmingham & Midland, rather than Midland Canal Transport. I think only ex Grand Union Canal Carrying Co boats were used for that traffic- I can't think of any FMC boats likely to have been involved. I think the traffic was very short lived. Here you go! Brimingham & Midland's YEOFORD and PICTOR on the Duckham's Oil Traffic in 1970 (or so it says!)...

The Lister HA2 now in SICKLE was reputedly from a standby generator set, but I don't know whose. Small correction - the very famous hospital in Oxford is the John Radcliffe.

Thanks to Captain Pegg & RayT for their explanations. From memory her early life afloat was with horse boats. She, her parents, and her siblings are the subject of the biography "A Horse A Boat And you". It gives a very good insight to those born on the boats, and who stayed with them to the very end of long distance carrying. She could hardly have been more embedded in the boating tradition. Two of her sisters, Vera and Ann married Ken Ward and Ted Ward, who were themselves brothers, although I am fairly certain she has outlived all of these. I didn't know her well, but did converse with her from time to time. Her brother-in-law Ken Ward and her sister Vera Ward (nee Wain) operated our boat FLAMINGO for Willow Wren CTS in the late 1960s.

Agreed 100%

For those who are interested, but don't do Facebook... Sadly Alice Lapworth passed away yesterday. No small number will no doubt be saddened by this news. However, I suspect if you don't recognise the name you probably have little interest in this news. Photo lifted from Facebook