[East Anglian River Staunches]

King Charles 1 requested the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to transform the Fen wetlands into farmland. The results were the Forty Foot and the One Hundred Foot Drains running directly from Earith to the Wash. A two-way tidal sluice was constructed at Denver. Thus, the massive volume of  River Great Ouse extensive catchment water was led directly to the sea. Vermuyden's drainage scheme relieved the narrow, lock-protected Old West River which connects the Great Ouse to the River Cam between Cambridge and Ely.  

[March of the Widebeams 2]

My memory tells me that about this time you went off sailing in the Caribbean, John. Hope you had a wonderful holiday there!

[Wrought iron hull vs steel pros and cons?]

Riveted iron sailing ships of the 19C had the reputation of being indestructable and long-lived. They were however heavy. The steel sailing ships which replaced them could carry more paying cargo weight. 

[Blue Line]

The Leeds and Liverpool boatmen most certainly used to partly open one of the upper lock gate paddles to help get the lower gates on the move when closing them prior to filling the chamber. It seemed do the wooden gates no harm and certainly ensured a tight fit with minimum leakage. Another trick they used was to throw a hooked rope over the iron rail of the swing bridges they passed through using a stern cleat and the weight of the usually loaded moving short boat to draw the swing bridge shut. The rope was then deftly flicked by the steersman and the hook flew free up in the air.

[JP2 woes]

Lay a straight edge along the flywheel taper. If it is worn there are specialists who can spray the taper with metal then turn it off on the lathe to the correct taper profile.

[OK own up. Who did it?]

Zander is very popular here in Germany, it tastes delicious.