davel

Just to add there is loads of information from various folk on that thread

There are various threads on here but this one has some good information from @Pluto who is a very knowledgeable https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/9499-doug-moore-boats/

Kinver Canopies came out to us when we were at Stoke, Gloucester is a similar distance away. As a satisfied customer I can recommend them.

Somebody always says in Banter threads that everybody is welcome whether they have a boat or not whether they post on the forum even if they are not on the forum (like nina from the marina). Some of the former members over there are not so bad. Certainly JohnV has been to two banters, Ange's 50th and Loughborough and is a decent guy and it would be a shame if he did not attend because he felt he would not be welcome. Please lets make this an occasion for fellow waterways lovers to get together and share a few beers.

Another recommendation for Graham Thornton

Thanks for the correct term David, I asked the engineer to repeat it twice and was then too embarrassed to get him to spell it for me. I tried googling Cantiledge as in Cantilever and Counterledge as in Counterweight but was stumped after that. The gates appear not to have been used for a number of years, the present system is the same as at railway crossings with flashing red lights, audible alarm and a dropping barrier. edited for dodgy punctuation

Unrefurbished. Refurbished. Original road deck awaiting replacement. The engineer thought this is damage from a vehicle crashing into it. Sand blasted and primered. 1 1/2" clearance gap between bridge and road. When the bridge was swung these gates were used to stop the traffic. They are not used now but will be repainted to preserve them. The gate turns on this post on ball bearings. Some of the spikes have completely rusted away. New railings awaiting installation. New decking. I think you're gonna need a bigger hole punch. Section of old decking. Section of old railing. New lattice components. ROFPMSL

I was lucky enough to have Canal and River Trust lay on an open day at Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge on my birthday - here is a bit of background information. Sutton Weaver Swing Bridge carries the A56 over the River Weaver Navigation, built in 1926 to replace the original bridge built in 1872 which was 75' long by 14'wide, weighed 20 tons and was manually operated by one man. By 1923 it could no longer cope with 'modern' traffic. The present bridge is 150' long by 44' wide giving a clear roadway of 26'8" plus two footpaths of 5' and is operated by electric motors. The swinging section and the pontoon it sits weigh about 520 tons including 420 tons of iron and steel. The pontoon weighs about 33 tons and is 35' in diameter and sits in a water filled caisson. The pontoon is hollow and functions by displacing water equal to the volume of air in the pontoon reducing the weight borne by the rollers it turns on by about 200 tons. When being swung road traffic was stopped by heavy iron gates hung on ball bearings and connected by underground gearing. These gates are still in situ but are not used. Road lighting on the bridge was electric but the red and green signal lamps were paraffin. Canal and Rivers Trust are refurbishing and upgrading the bridge in a 12 month £4.5 million project, £3/4 million of which is for a temporary bridge to avoid major disruption of traffic and to enable the contractors to work on the bridge as a whole rather than have traffic on one side at a time and working on the other side thereby offsetting more than the cost of the temporary bridge. Sutton Weaver Bridge (photo from a wikicommons) The winding gear under the control room - - driven by this 30bhp drive motor The cable runs in this channel to the pontoon The PA system in the control room is outside the scope of the refurbishment. The original 1926 controls for operating bridge which work more reliably than many modern controls so the decision was made not to upgrade them. If it ain't broke don't fix it. My glamourous assistant (in full PPE) demonstrating the controls. The control room. The horizontal rail through the centre of the picture has completely rusted through at the left of the photo. Sand blasted and painted vs not sand blasted and painted. Original decking. If you jump on this, water squirts out of the holes. The pontoon does not sit exactly in the centre of the bridge so this cavity under the road deck contained about 80 ton of counterweights (or counterlage as the engineer called it) consisting of - - these ingots. The new decking is lighter than the old but they are not sure by how much. They weighed each end of the bridge at the beginning of the project and will replace enough weight to match the original proportions. Refurbished lattice work More photos to follow ...

This is my interpretation from my conversation with him this morning. There is a winding hole just in front of where Rensol was moored yesterday. But the bridge in front and the bridge behind both have steps leading up to the road.

I think it was to get to a more suitable place to get his bike off the towpath on to the road.

I agree. But. We were moored behind Rensol (he set of this morning in far calmer weather) and being on the spot my advice to him would, bearing in mind his inexperience and that Rensol is (I believe) a Springer with very little grip in the water, would have been to wait. However, I would have considered going out on Iona (but only if I really had to) and of course Brian and Ann Marie came through and managed a deft manoeuvre next to Iona (Cheers guys) with ease, despite the conditions.

Already got a pair from the 2nd potholing jaunt thanks. Had a beer, feeling refreshed after a break, just about to take the helm to relieve the galley slave. skipper.

Took the dog for a walk and checked the remaining CWDF moorings, The Falcon and The Loo make a Kiwi sandwich at 34 and 36.

Connect positive leads from both panels to one of the three way connectors and negative leads to the other then connect your positive and negative leads from the other end of the connectors to the controller. Measure carefully the exact route the leads will take to the controller, it's surprising how much cable it takes to go round the twist and turns of the route.