springy

Just seen this on BBC Midlands Today - the Birmingham BULLSINTHECITY includes one decorated with Roses and Dudley Castle https://bullsinthecity.co.uk/sculptures/bill-bull-barge/ springy

Some years ago I helped bring Gifford up Wolverhampton 21 horse drawn, I was somewhat surprised how fast it came out of the chambers compared with a motor. AIUI all of the FMC steamers worked "fly", and somewhere on the web I have seen letters from various canal owning companies to FMC complaining about the behaviour and speed of the steamers (though I can't find it at the moment). springy

Certainly looks like a FoMoCo carb to me but I think it is a crossflow, which would tally with 1975 (by then we were up to the Mk 3 cortina) - pre crossflow the inlet manifold and carb was directly above the exhaust manifold, on the crossflow engine the manifolds are on opposite sides of the head. ISTR the pre crossflow engines had Solex carburettors springy

Be aware that the TV may require a regulated 12v supply, the alternator, battery charger or solar may push the voltage up to over 14v. Worth checking. springy

Yo cor wesh yer onds in a buffalo

True ish - The Gardner 4VT as fitted to the Cowburn and Cowpar motors in the mid 30s used "Pump Stroke" governing, first produced in 1913, as did the Bolinder W series engines. Bolinder also continued to use "Hit and Miss" governing on the E type (1908) NE and BM series favoured by FMC, Thomas Clayton and others. springy

On the contrary, I suspect even now there are still more single cylinder hot bulbs than the later full diesel bolinders in narrowboats, they also have a distinctive uneven beat due to the use of a "Hit and Miss" governor - when working hard they will hit every beat but on lower loads they will hit one miss two, hit one miss three hit two miss three etc. - you never can tell when you will get a firing stroke. Many have however replaced the sievert paraffin blowlamp with a gas burner. springy

The conical lower half suggests some sort of powder storage - cement silo ? springy

I was at the Moira Furnace gathering yesterday and there were quite a few Wilderness boats amongst the attendees, along with their trailers, I chatted briefly with a few of the owners and they seemed a friendly bunch - look out for a gathering for trailable boats and just turn up. Whilst they might not be able to point you to an "available" trailer, you might be able to borrow one to get your move done. springy

UK and EU regulators ARE different - UK Propane 37mB, UK Butane 28mB, EU 30mB for both, (UK natural gas 20-23mB). I don't know what effect this would have on the flame, this site suggests the flame would be weaker if switching from a UK to EU regulator and gives some jet sizes. https://forums.ybw.com/threads/switching-to-euro-gas-regulators.293736/ springy

Just realised from the info linked by Stroudwater 1 that this building was (in the late 70s) the Opposite Lock nightclub (nothing to do with canal locks - the owner was a car rally enthusiast) and later became Bobby Browns nightclub. springy

No, apparently the council hasn't considered it yet. The news article was more about the BCNS reaction. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxyv4x4p51o beaten to it by stroudwater1 springy

Could be tricky, IIRC Bernard's return from the pelsall rally to bclm a couple of years back with 4 joeys behind included about 14 hours of weedhatch time (35" prop). springy

Having spent a lot of time on the BCN, I've had quite a variety of things - Worst - mattress springs on the Tame Valley - 2 1/2 hrs cutting down the weed hatch and pulling with a cabin shaft from the bank with the assistance of a couple of BW operatives (back in the good old days), spring steel is hard. Weirdest - on the walsall - initial investigations felt like cloth but when I started cutting at it (with a stanley knife attached to a length of string) it got bigger - turned out to be a large piece of foam wrapped tightly. Bed sheets are quite tough when twisted, and a lorry inner tube, amongst many other things. Not really a "prop foul" but on the northern stratford I was stopped dead at kings norton swing bridge (no 2) narrows, a metal tube had lodged between the skeg and the shaft, finally freed with the assistance of a "non passing" boat (I was blocking the narrows) who towed me backwards off the offending tube which we recovered with a grappling hook and turned out to be a "heras" type temporary fence panel. Fortunately apart from minor dings to the prop, no major damage was caused in any of these events. springy

Reading the description in the link - they are not "flank drive" but a female equivalent of an "easy out" stud extractor, the inside of the socket has a tapering spiral which bites into the rounded nut, in larger sizes also useful for removing "security" wheel nuts without the "key" adaptor. (I recognise it because I have a single one in my toolbox, don't remember where it came from, never actually used it.) springy

Some 25 years ago W'ton 21 top paddles definitely had a mixture of single (windlass spindle directly engaging with the paddle rack - fewer turns from end to end but harder work) and double gears (more turns but easier to operate), probably not all locks but certainly IIRC around the top of the flight, and with some consistency in as much as the towpath side had double geared, and the offside had single geared - and consequently harder to operate paddles, when single handing it made life slightly easier to lift the towpath paddle first, then cross the gate for the offside, the few minutes of open paddle slightly easing the weight of the offside paddle. Re paddle angles - mechanically (I haven't done the maths but pretty sure) an angled paddle orifice should require slightly less force to "break" the seal than a vertical one, thus a vertical paddle is usually double geared, an angled paddle can be single geared and thus quicker to operate. When the w'ton 21 (20) was built the Cast Iron BCN paddle gear post we all know almost certainly did not exist. Probably all of the paddle gear was originally single gear, on wooden posts, but at some point the towpath side was replaced with double gear. More recently IIRC all of the offside paddles are now double geared. Some of the cast iron bases are mounted on an angled concrete "plinth" so clearly the paddle orifice is at an angle., springy

Hi David, I've had good service from these people, used them successfully a couple of times for keys which the standard key cutting places couldn't do Willenhall base https://www.davenport-burgess.com/ springy

Certainly shows similarities to this image of Tug No 1 dated to 1964 https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoffsimages/51182016911 by 1987 the pigeon box has gone and either the cabin was extended or (looks more likely) completely replaced https://www.timshistoricnarrowboatphotos.uk/index.php/stewarts-lloyds/2-uncategorised/409-sl-tug-no-1 springy

Yes is the simple answer, lever throttle and gearchange (S & L tug Bittell has a nice Lister badged throttle lever connected to the engine using a bowden cable and a long lever attached via a number of links to the lister mechanical gearbox), wheel throttle and gearchange (IIRC kelvin gearbox uses a wheel via a long roller chain) and Bolinder installations had a speed wheel (though much different to the usual multi turn speedwheel - only approx half a turn from minimum to maximum) , a push pull clutch rod, a push pull reversing rod and a push pull oil rod. I guess over the years all combinations have been used - I can not recall seeing a lever throttle and wheel gearchange setup but I would expect it has been used depending on the engine and gearbox installation. springy

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/30636-police-incident-temporary-closure-of-factory-locks-tipton-new-mainline Bit strange this one, Factory locks closed since 21st Jan due to "police incident". On going. No shortage of alternate routes though, although one boater trying to get to Caggy's appears to be "stranded". https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2025/01/29/i-dont-want-my-home-to-sink-boaters-nightmare-as-lock-closure-leaves-him-stranded-on-tipton-canal/ springy

That was my thought too, the boat has what seems to be the right proportions for a 'hampton boat, the straight canal would suggest the cannock extension rather than the curly wyrley itself, and the pub is in Hednesford not far from the location of the colliery basin. Though to be honest I don't actually know. springy

That must have been hard work getting the handle over the top of the swing standing at that height, its hard enough now that the ground level has been raised. How about this one (photo of a photo in a pub) springy

I read that as 2 1/4 Gallons not Litres springy

Article in todays Express and Star pointing out the the closure of the Walsall Canal due to this spill is still active. https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/walsall/2024/12/26/section-of-walsall-canal-still-closed-off-months-after-toxic-spill-incident/ springy