Derek R.

January 29

23 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Copyright laws may be dumb. They may be skewed to favour the powerful, who can afford expensive politicians to make the laws and expensive lawyers to enforce them. They may be complex and confusing. You can choose to ignore them and many do. If you do, there may, or may not be consequences and you don't get to decide which. There is also a potential risk to the forum and it's owner and benefactor, if we don't have a stated and enforced rule on the use of copyright material. You agree to abide by the forum rules when signing up to and using CWDF, including that one.

I'll close the door on the way out. Good luck folks.

January 28

9 hours ago, mark99 said:

If you have hundreds of captured old images, often > 70 years old (and you did not catalogue them) and you then share them amongst other specific enthusiasts "not for profit" but to celebrate uk heritage (and generate a bit of adult discussion), is it such a crime?

Who are the losers?

We all lose. We lose those tangible pieces of evidence that things existed as they once did. We lose history as it was, owing to the selfishness of those who abide by pedantry. No regrets from this party. Like, share.

January 27

A paragraph and lines from the Gov website posted by Chris Lowe:

"Images that have been found on the web may be used in the following situations:

you know the copyright term has expired;
you have permission from the copyright owner for exactly what you want to do with it (for example, to display it on your website) - this may be in the form of something like a licence you purchase from a picture library or a Creative Commons Licence ; or
you use the images for specific purposes known in law as permitted acts"

So, what is a "permitted act"? Does this 'specific purpose' cover copying an image for which no known creator is available to ask?

We're all in trouble, no matter what we do. Is breathing still allowed?

January 23

21 hours ago, Bee said:

Ah, Shirlett, that is where our whippet / lab cross came from, we are in Jackfield, (Well above the high water mark!)

Sounds like one of the many Keepers dogs. We have had a numnber of 'Keepers', they come and go . . .

January 22

Books, no. But they seem to be able to text at the speed of light!

My wife brought a vitreous enamel potty home a while back. And I was instantly taken back seventy odd years, recalling how cold it was to sit on!

What was ELSDALE before it became a 'school'. One of Steven's barges off the Wey?

January 22

19 hours ago, Bee said:

That is quite shocking. 1954 is not really that long ago. The primary school I went to had occasional 'gypsy' kids although they might have been just kids from poor families, any child who was grubby and didn't smell too good was called a gypsy. No segregation of any sort but they didn't really mix with the majority of the other kids

Totally agree, it was shocking. We had one boy in our Junior school who wasn't gypsy, but had severe learning difficulties. No ability to read or write, and defecated where he sat. One day he wasn't there and did not return. Children themselves can be most discriminatory. It's just how it was, and still is today.

We must be close neighbours. I live in Shirlett, and one daughter works in Blists Hill (The Victorian Village).

January 20

SCOUT had (has?) some of Gordons ashes embedded in the blacking. Though most went on the waters at Cow Roast. (It was a windy day).

January 20

Hi Mark, The bow fender was strictly speaking a Turk's head. Quite how it was constructed I don't know, and Joe has long since left this mortal coil.

It is similar in appearance to a Monkey's fist, and may be common in terms of construction. I'm sure ethere will be some maritime books and web pages that show how to etc.

Joe told us that L & L boatmen would paint them with white gloss paint, that hardened them and extended their life.

This is a Monkey's fist he made us back in 1983:

It was made as a key fob, and as it's quite light, suspect the core may be a cork from a bottle. Never tested its ability to float! I'm sure it would.

January 19

59 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

What was the boat similar to this that was moored just above Cowroast Lock for many years?

My memory has faded and all my pics from that era are analogue and up in the loft.

That was probably SCOUT. Believed to be an ex lighter of sorts, chap lived aboard for many years.

January 17

16 hours ago, mark99 said:

I assumed an attempt at modern colourisation.

I recall My Dad had a set of inks in bottles specifically for colouring in sepia prints. They got used on some family pictures but were not impressive.

January 15

2 hours ago, Jonny P said:

Presumably you’re referring to the photo Ray has uploaded so I’m guessing your reference to Sam should in fact say Albert.

As far as the OP’s Nan is concerned that would be Uncle Albert. Thankfully we know he didn’t sink GIFFORD.

Yes, you are correct. My mistake in assigning the wrong name, since corrected in my original post. Thank you.

January 15

Aah! Thank you Paul.

January 15

He didn't suffer fools. Possibly because he carried quite a lot over the years.

January 15

I think just LARK. Probably wooden. Can't make out the carrier, but looks like Leicester B??????? - Braunston? Birmingham? beneath.

Not listed in any of the 'small' books.

January 15

Bottom lock of Sarah's two, Cassiobury. Looking South.

https://tinyurl.com/ycyxkn8c

January 15

A fascinating item. I imagine it would be designed to fit a cylindrical stove with a front aperture into which the kettle fitted. Never seen the like before.

January 15

Albert & Sue Beechey were the subjects of the artist Christopher M. Jones where their boats TWEED & GIFFORD are depicted below Somerton Deep lock. It was on the cover of 'Narrow Boat', Spring of 2006, and featured an historical profile of the Staffs. & Worcs. and Claytons of Oldbury. It was also the first issue of said quartelry journal. ~~Sam~~ Albert is seen mopping off the fore-cabin of GIFFORD, while Sue is standing in the hatches with a cup of tea.

Edited to add:

There are two pages within that issue of tracing family ancestries by Lorna York.

https://narrowboatmagazine.com/issue/issue1

January 14

29 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I always thought this was a sewer vent. A sort of stinkpole but usually they are tall pipes.

A vent yes, but for surface water not foul.

43 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Yes that's an interesting little building. Further back towards Lady Capels there is the remains of a fairly large iron waterwheel driven water pump in the bushes. I think it was either for the estate water supply (The Grove is on a hill) or watercress. There is another pump exactly the same on the sharp bend by Grove bridge.

Pumps are in the bushes around these two locations. Used to spend a lot of time around there on the Boats and I like having a wander about. That was before the golf course went in.

I reckon the Verbena is where the e of Gade is.

Never spotted those. Looking at the Scottish Library maps for 1798 - 1878, there is little to see that supports any more accuracy, quite poor in fact.

Oh for a time machine, but without the limitations of trespass!

The SL maps for 1830 - 1880 OS six inch, show a Mill, and what looks like a Cress Cutting stream in the vicinity of the reed beds.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.5&lat=51.68242&lon=-0.43217&layers=257&b=1&o=100

January 14

Gumpy: Well, your in the right area! I recall driving buses on the 301/302 routes over bridge 162, the one close by what was the Blue Star petrol station (now Shell), and on the towpath just South of the bridge is the plaque I recalled earlier. I was looking in the wrong place. There's a brick structure there, with a black standpipe (vent) atop. Something to do with drainage from the 'new road'.

January 14

4 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

I always understood that the canal was diverted slightly when what is now the M25 feeder was built, this left the triangle that became the reed bed.

On the map the left bank is shown in its present position the right bank follows it rather than being straight as it is now.

That reminds me of something a former neighbour told me when I lived just outside Tring back in the late sixties. She told me her Father was involved in an incident that took the life of one of the workers prior to the M25 spur being built, and that there was a concrete plaque erected in memory. Searching the Goggle eyed maps shows nothing of it today, and it may well have been removed, or simply buried under the undergrowth. The slight straightening of the off-side bank (no path there) fits, but the reed banks are older.

January 14

4 minutes ago, mark99 said:

No I'm not sure - I will recheck the caption/source, pretty sure it said passing Cassiobury Park. Having said that, captions are often incorrect.

Re. 'captions' - so correct! But if it says: 'Passing Cassiobury Park', then technically that is correct, and the reed beds make a distinctive landmark.

January 14

Yes, I know the bit you mean, but what are they loaded with going North I wonder? Not coal, but could be something from Brentford dock.

I think you may be right, so instead of 'Below Ironbridge', it's 'Below Hunton Bridge'?

January 13

Below Ironbridge, you sure about that Mark?

Given they are loaded and heading South with the tow path on the left, the closest I can guess is below Grove Mill Lane, before the wooden turnover bridge in Cassiobury. Could be wrong though.

https://tinyurl.com/4cmtvrmb

January 13

The reputation of PD2's breaking cranks. 'Chip fryers', due to the shape of the air cowling resembling same.

Ours in YARMOUTH was installed by John Pattle, who obtained it from a ships lifeboat out of East Anglia somewhere. It replaced the BMC Commodore (still extant in KALAMAKI as last heard). That PD2 stonked us all over the system, from London to Gargrave, never missed a beat. We had heard of crank breakages, and various theories discussed. Some said they broke at tickover after starting, but could not explain why. I always turned the engine over at least twelve times by hand from cold, just to get some oil around the system. Most folk seemed to dislike them for the noise being air cooled. Oil pressure needed to be watched, as the oil cooler 'could' leak (it was hidden inside the ducting) reducing oil pressure. Ours never did. Hand starting was almost impossible alone - bags of compression. Roger Alsop and I did it once with both of us on the handle at the same time!

After we sold YARMOUTH, we heard the crank had broke! It got replaced with a JP2.

Added text:

That day boat with the motor stern looks like it's been used as a skip! There'll be a reason for that.

January 13

Whilst tied up at a rally in Caversham (Thames) in 1981 we heard odd noises (whizzes and pings), which turned out to be boys from a scout base on the far side of the river firing air rifles at the boats. The police were notified and put a stop to that.

Elsewhere we had observed youths carrying air rifles on the towpath, only the once, and that later when on the N. Coventry IIRC. Most aggressive action was from bridges and 'stoning'.

There was a story of a boater using a shotgun in Milton Keynes who fired at a wheelie bin about to be dropped on the passing boat. Blew the bin back onto the assailant who ran off.

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