Derek R.

His Eminences Choice . . .

Double funnels - corrr!

The Port of London had it's own Authority, so maybe that could be one definition of a Port. The 'Port' of Berkhamsted is I believe something that came from the mind of a local entrepreneur when she spent some time 'in Office' on the local council.

It's the way of the World. Just a simple bucket will do. Keep It Simple. Lost a cheque book once . . . found it in the Elsan.

No cellar here either. But I do have a space under the stairs. Unfortunately (or otherwise) it's occupied by the vacuum cleaner and Christmas decorations. The 'boiler' is staying firmly in the kitchen and the kettle is always on.

The first Rayburn we had was in a Scottish estate bungalow (concrete shoe box). Terrible condition and any 'servicing' was done by the tennant. Solid fuel and mostly wood. No rads, but heated water in the cylinder in a cupboard beside the range, direct, so plenty of pipe blockage through furred pipes despite soft water straight off 'the hill'. You could make tea straight from the tap. Had some interesting chimney fires. The 'estate' didn't do 'servicing'. The second was a 'Royal' in Salop. Solid fuel again, mostly ovals. The semi-rotary grate had a brick in a big hole, it needed re-bricking, and again - direct to a cylinder in the bathroom above. This time the estate was resonsible for servicing and it got re-bricked, along with a change to an indirect system, much improved after that. It burnt out another two semi-rotary grates in the seven years we were there. I paid and fitted them, they were £30 a pop. The third, another 'Royal', is oil fired. We've had it serviced by acredited engineers twice and twice we've had them back to correct imbalances made. Again, no rads, just "Hot water - and plenty of it!" It's in the kitchen (naturally) and the indirect cylinder is behind me in the spare bedroom. No pumps, no timers just thermo syphon operation on the water side. Unaffected by power cuts. No gas in the house.

Shouldn't 'central' heating be in the middle of the house? Viking style? Have a job to get our Rayburn in the loft, wouldn't want to go up there for a boiled kettle or roast dinner.

I would have thought to promote commercial use of the Northern broad waterways. I take it 21/2d is tuppence ha'penny - just over 1P decimal. I'd have been 15 later that year.

'Pereira', I knew I had the spelling wrong! (Don't know where I got 'Chris' from. Age I guess.) I believe they had SABRINA, the inspectors/directors launch around that same time. Ta for the correction.

Gosh, that brings back memories. We went to view ALCOR in 1979. I think Chris Pererrer [sp?] owned it. Asking price was £11,000. It had wind up bus windows and no access to the front deck from the cabin. Still composite back then. Had a lovely back cabin.

It's an airy fairy idea of prettiness by the water. Gas outage? Change the bottle like everyone else does. It will rely on the visitor centre for custom and their opening times are most likely timed with same. I've seen better equipped floating cafes with sit down seating within disappear faster than Sunshine in Winter. Financially, it will run at a loss. As a boat, back on the market in six months time. It's a shame, but with the best will in the world, it is but a pipe dream.

The hook is quite possibly from its ice boat past, but as it appears to be fixed atop a comparatively new block of wood, likely to have been placed in a: "Where shall we put this" moment. Base of the mast is a most probable position. Obviously the cabin prevents that. A lightweight cabin in wood on wooden frames would have made it less 'tender', but with any round bilged boat, there will be 'fun'.

Thanks Mike. Gannex - that brings back memories!

Tam, what engine was in WHITE HEATHER back then? Someone has mentioned a Ford, the ad says Toyota. Was it forward of the wheelhouse, or aft under deck?

Correct about CREEPING JENNY. But no, I wasn't referring to the Springer on the left. There is another boat beyond JENNY and ASH which is tied to the bank and has its fore end almost touching WHITE HEATHER's stem post. It's black, with the letters of the name in red. It may be PIRATE PRINCESS, which from memory was a wide boat fitted out for disadvantages children.

Certainly on my Nicholson's for '87. Couldn't say when it disappeared, Google Maps show a structure of sorts on the offside, but little signs of a bridge being there on the towpath side. https://tinyurl.com/yd275c7v

WHITE HEATHER at Cowley. Present at a Christmas 'do' possibly 1982. Seem to recall Jason Murrell was in charge. It had some 'poke'. Three boats on the right; 'JENNY' owned by John and Georgie Pattle, probably alongside ASH of Roger & Fran Wakeham. The third I'm thinking PIRATE PRINCESS?

That part of the Caldon has nice memories for us too, as we viewed YARMOUTH close by The Hollybush. YARMOUTH became our home for the following ten years. Good times. https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/yarmouth

And the enlarged and revised 1974 version was 19/- (95p - by the mid eighties).

It's a fair point. We had left the housing chain to move afloat and have not been able to return. We rent, and on a state pension and precious little else, a return to boat ownership is out of the question. Further, individual commitments to family prevents any constructive involvement - then there's the chickens . . . First book I read on canals? I think it was 'Hold on a Minute', followed by Narrow Boat, though Landscape With Canals has to be a favourite. Many others followed. We cruised from Guildford to Gargrave, Southend on Sea (Dutchman) to Chester, and still missed a lot.

Not forgetting the jacuzzi and bow thruster. Our first steps into the canal world were in the early eighties, much later than many. We focussed on the boats, the history, and at that time, the practices of working boats, locking and use of straps from several ex-working boaters then (mostly) on maintenance and lock keeping. It was all part and parcel of maintaining working practices - and our boat roof was always clear of the tat of plant pots, coal bags and whatnot. We left the cut in 2012 having lived afloat for the first twelve years of our married life and later ownership for a further thirteen years of TYCHO. We saw the changes and we had become strangers. We will not be back.

Charles Hadfield forgotten? Not a bit. I have several of his books on my shelves - and one I lent and never got back!

https://www.a2bnarrowboats.co.uk/

"Woe be to them" - That depends on what 'woe' is being escaped or entered into. The canals of the UK can be an escape, or they can be a nightmare. It all depends on an individuals starting point and their overall attitude to living in todays world and understanding the past. I would caution about reference to the current world 'health' situation, that is something we would all like to escape from, and this is not the place to introduce it.

Not a mystery at all. Go back to page 1 of this 13 page thread and scroll down to the 19th post. (NOTE to web manager - this would have been easier of the post numbers WOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT AT THE LAST UPDATE). Reading the entire thread will disolve any mystery. The lakes were once connected, unwanted craft moved in, sunk (some allegedly rammed to increase the process), then the access channel back filled, isolating the lake now primarily used for 'angling'. The lock above is 'Widewater', clearly taken from the fact that below it - there are the wide waters of the former gravel pits.