Derek R.

No phone number! Spencer House, West End recently: https://tinyurl.com/y5nwbpb7

I stand corrected. Though some images show two red lights one above the other, others show two red and a white. That fine example shown does seem to have a red tinge through the glass. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=not+under+command+lights&atb=v222-1&ia=web

Otherwise known as an Anchor light. Hoist to the masthead when at anchor, this type of light had a 360° spread so as to be visible to other shipping. More often they had loops top and bottom both sides for lines to stop them waving around too much. Not a 'masthead' light, nor a Tunnel light, both of which shone forward.

As far as I know - One. Created by British Waterways (Board?) in 1942 by shortening the full length middle Northwich TYCHO down to 40' and adding a 5' ram to the fore end replacing the original stem post (45' overall). Also substantially strengthening the fore end plates inside, effectively doubling the plating and adding strengthening ledges from the stem post back into the hold.

No. I wrote 'inspecyion'. 😉

TYCHO had a steel bulkhead with an inspection window, but whether that was original or put in late I don't know. Then there are the butties, were the wooden ones built with a door to the hold, or did all of them, wood or steel have a doorway access? - Or not?

Copy that.

Unless you go for a hydraulic drive with a drive unit and prop mounted in the rudder. That leaves full headroom in the cabin.

Thanks for the book link Tim. I have a recollection of it being online to read. Might be a sign of 'age' though . . . Those outakes make the craft look quite homely.

That is correct. The ADELINA was one such. This boat featured in a story book, but I cannot now find a reference. There's batoning just above the water line holding the plastic sheeting in place. It was a very tranquil back then.

Not quite sure what is being portraid there. The jumpy flickering is just a modern overlay on recent horse boating reconstruction with the Horseboat Society. Nothing 'old' about it film wise. I doubt there were many mobility scooters and mobile phones on belts in the late 19thC or early 20thC. The Basingstoke floating homes lasted quite a while. Some images I took in the early eighties.

That too. Must have been a terrifying experience. Done the Trent twice now from Keadby to Cromwell. Not a piece of water I would do again, what with Coasters coming up behind and meeting tanker barges at Gainsborough, 'sunken islands' and 'boils'. Glad to get into Nottingham - and that's saying something. An 'era' has passed, but the memories remain.

I think Jim lived on ELIZABETH for maybe 50yrs or more. His home made wines were seriously powerful - and palatable! ELIZABETH's interior was an Edwardian gem. We sat and talked at length after Mig left. Not a happy time. Later with a new partner he took ELIZABETH to France and cruised extensively, even considered building a canalside business there, but I believe authoritarian problems got in the way eventually. There was also mention of skinny dipping from ELIZABETH in the Med. Can't confirm that though. There was a little fracas when tied in a French basin somewhere, when Jim stuffed either a prosthetic hand or a rubber glove from the hawser hole in the fore end for a joke. Someone alerted the authorities and a search for a body began! More recently his health suffered and I believe he is in care somewhere. Talking about other people's stuff (and a complete aside), when we were tied up at Tooley's in Banbury in '83, Louise remarked on the nice little rag rug in the little caravan by the dock. Herbert promptly said "you can have it". Same caravan I believe that the Rolt's stayed in when they got back from Ireland and found CRESSY still not on dock. Only door mat sized and we still have it, so maybe we are stepping in the Rolt's footsteps!

I remember EILEEN at Chertsey. Chap named Paul lived aboard with his dog, a long haired collie called 'Toby'. Early eighties. The boat had a full length cabin in wood, the engine was in the stern, ahead of which was a cabin in the traditional back cabin layout, but reversed with side hatches and access through to the front (from distant memory). Very atmospheric and very comfortable. I dare say it was pretty rotten too, hence the start of several changes. Much later she was with Jim at 'two bridges'.

A bright spot in gloomy times. I'd never heard of Walter Horam, but here he is entertaining a pair of 'also rans'. Walter Horam, from Preston, was an engineer, working for English Electric and Leyland Motors, but spent almost every evening entertaining all-male audiences in working men’s clubs. Maybe it was his boat, maybe not. But he's on the cut, possibly Leeds & Liverpool:

It's a BSA! Possibly a C15, more likely a Bantam. The cutter looks like the paddle wheel(s) are steerable (a bit?) by the 'steering' wheel, paddle and cutting blades out of sight driven by the engine behind the prongs (seen lifted). Much of that is a bit of a guess. I do remember seeing one tied up somewhere, might have been on the Oxford, early eighties.

The same is true in the automotive world. No time wasters to me says: "Don't bother coming if you are not going to buy the item at the advertised price." It's an aggressive stance that puts many off.

I've got a genuine Arthur Miller Donkey jacket with leather shoulder back and cuffs for sale - circa 1968 - only £1,300.

I remember BARON being in Aylesbury basin in 1979. It was about the time I was looking to live afloat and went aboard to view, Had a long passageway down one side with 'cabins' off it. There was a 1053 in the stern end which reportedly was in poor condition. I 'passed' on the offer.

ENCELADUS is a very nice boat, from what can be seen. Front cabin could do with a bit of 'running-in', but I'd be up for it if it wasn't for resources and the fact that the cut has changed beyond what I remember of it.

Andrews - that was the name I couldn't remember! The two islands upstream of the road bridge were Bridge Ait and Grass Ait. We moored on Bridge Ait for a while in the backwater, our front path was by dinghy to a floating staging along which we walked to another small boatyard which used to take in mail for us and from whom we filled our water barrels. They were accessed from Mill Lane which led to the paper pulp mill still in operation in 1980. On the Skindles side, upstream, there was a Sea Cadets station where marching up and down on a Sunday was regular and rowing their six or eight oared boat. Feels like a million years ago now. Drifting stern first away from the mooring. The white tower still exists, the flag mast denotes the Sea Cadets base and beyond a small boatyard. All gone.

Bushnells - opposite where Skindles was? All changed: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5239708,-0.701702,3a,15y,334.19h,86.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDucSj5YUZdGDV9iyCFICDw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en I'm amazed the tin roofed shed of MARLOW boat services beside the bridge still survives, or did in 2019.

Aaah! - The life of a hire boat single cylinder start-up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kafaXRp97Gc 😉

I have a small hardback book on motorcycle riding which I purchased for £3.50 through the Vintage Motorcycle Club many decades ago, It has been out of print a long time, and curiosity got me searching the internet for a copy. There was one (at the time) for sale for £347. Surely a mistake. I contacted the seller, and no, there was no mistake. Today, I find just one copy available at £62. That's a long way from £347. Glad I still have my original copy. So keep searching and be patient. There are several other histories of the canal and the railway, maybe one of them tells of wharves in Marple.

Will there be a charge for viewing from the flocks of people - or will the cost be born by the boaters wishing to negotiate all and sundry? I can see lots of people turning up, taking tea and cake, and leaving.