PeterO

The green boat was at Streethay having work done to it when we passed there the week before Braunston. It seemed to be having the grab fitted and having a paint. But still can't confirm the boat's name though. Peter

I believe there are moves afoot to try to get Perseverence out of Ellesmere Port and back together again. She deserves a better fate than languishing unloved at EP.

Although I was involved with the Basingstoke restoration, I was not involved with the dredging side. In answer to Derek's query, I understood that the steam powered grab was used when the material to be dredged was hard and/or compacted and that the clam-shell grab (operated with chains and relied on gravity to dig down into the silt) was used when the material was soft. There were a number of times that the grabs were changed this was not something that happened very frequently. However, I understood that dredging using the steam-powered grab was slower. Originally when she started dredging on the Basingstoke in 1975, the cabin on Perserverence was painted red but the colour was changed - can't remember when. The film dates from the early 1990's. The opening shots of the tug were taken near Reading Road Bridge and the first shots of Perserverence show Pondtail bridge in the background. However, the film does not seem to have been compiled chronologically as later shots of Perserverence dredging are back nearer Reading Road Bridge. When the dregings are shown being boated away, the tow is shown passing under Reading Road Bridge (very low), past a hire boat from Galleon Marine to the disposal site near Crookham Village west of Poulter's Bridge. According to the Surrey & Hampshire Canal Society website: "In March 1993 Perseverance reached Pondtail Bridge, east of Fleet, and in October of that year, its work on the canal finished, it was taken by road to the Canal Museum at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire." Peter

The year was 2000 (see post 31 above). The next year it didn't get any points.

We went there specially because it had various bonus points (seldom-used dead end)- only to find we couldn't get any!

I think that the notice that Hairy Neil "borrowed" was put up for the 2000 BCN Challenge. Didn't get a photo of it then but I remember seeing it. It was only at the weekend of the Challenge that the "ban" on going down the arm from Ryders Green Junction was declared. Anyone who went down it would have been disqualified. We did that BCN Challenge in an Anglo Welsh hire boat - just a month before we bought our first boat! Click for log of the weekend

No way. Getting too long in the tooth. Snibston Discovery Park is run by Leicestershire County Council. The main building is modern and well looked after. Outside is less well maintained but still acceptable except for the area immediately around Belmont. Peter

Forgot to mention in my last post that Jules and Richard will be there on Towcester and Bideford. Last summer (can't remember exactly when), Belmont was still in a very sorry condition at Snibston looking very much as we'd seen her in July 2009: Sorry about the last image, but it transferred to the forum on it's side and an error occurred when I tried to rotate it. I don't know if anything's happened to her in the last year. Peter

Trevor Maggs confirmed to me today that Corona will be at there. Southern Cross, Sculptor, Ilkestone, Kestrel and Northolt should also be in attendence.

What I said was: I agree it's been chucking down all morning here as well but it's supposed to get better tomorrow.

Stanton is booked in - hope we have a good time and the rain stops!

Stanton is already there. This morning's forecast is dry all day Saturday and Sunday up to mid afternoon. Hope to see you all over the weekend.

We went past the site of Umbriel's sinking yesterday (Monday) morning and Umbriel has been removed - no sign of her. Peter

At Braunston Bottom Lock there used to be side paddles which emptied into a leat which ran into the reservoirs that now form Braunston Marina. This system was installed so that the water used by Braunston Locks was not given to the Oxford Canal but saved for pumping back up to the summit. The pump house still exists at the back of UCC. There used to be three paddle posts at the bottom of the lock which remained in position until the 1960s. They can be seen in a photo on page 37 of David Blagrove's book At the Heart of the Waterways. There were never any duplicate locks at Braunston. Peter

Hyades is now owned by Rex Wain (since summer 2010) and he has been doing some work on her at Brinklow. For many years the boat was on the Grand Western Canal at Tiverton which is probably why people don't recall seeing her around. Link with piccies Peter