Derek R.

I don't suppose 100 years ago the commercial business of fleet management had much thought to those who followed 100 years hence! I wonder how many people today are cataloging their actions with a view to future historians ability to decipher ways and means?

TYCHO's counter is a new one, but slavishly copied from the original by Graeme Pearce and crew at Stockton in 2002. The rivets may not be quite exact replicas of those used by Yarwoods, but they are in the correct places as are the rubbing bands.

Is access to the River Dee a desirable thing for cruising boaters? Does it connect with extra miles of attractive waterways? If it is not, then it is likely it will not be used, and it will - especially being tidal - get silted up again very quickly without ongoing dredging. What then, would a campaigning rally to de-silt and make good the locks to gain access to the Dee when apart from a few bold spirits wishing to say 'they did it' - really achieve? This is rather like a copy-cat desire to see a full size working Foxton inclined plane. Sincere desire to re-instate something lost, but where are the benefits in a day and age where cruising is about backwater places in safe waters where amenities are on tap, or secure mooring are available. Does the Dee offer any of these things? Is this not just another White Elephant idea when other places could benefit from cash input and return fresh miles and destinations? Some sleeping dogs are best left as they are.

Absolutely. Dippers can be bought from agricultural merchants. Sometimes called corn scoops (though they come in differing shapes) and sometimes manure scoops. It's easy to see why the term 'dipper' came into being used, as a handbowl was dipped into the cut for water. But they were truly a bowl, capable of standing flat on its circular tin base, with a handle for ease of use - that's a hand bowl. Calling them dippers is like calling boatmen bargees, or water cans watering cans. Maybe no difference to many, but the devil is always in the detail.

Anderton lift was the only connection to and from the Weaver to the Trent & Mersey Canal, and as well as being the first of its kind in the World, I think justifies the cost though some will disagree. The Foxton Inclined Plane is not the only connection from top to bottom, and so the value of access is directly affected. How many would wait in a queue to use the locks instead of paying a fee to use the Plane? It's a big outlay for a fragile return. The boat scales at Stoke top are never used but do show what was in use at one time, but they have not been 'reconstructed' from raw materials - they're the real deal. Which makes a non-working replica Plane a bit of a White Elephant - even if it would be at lower cost to a working one. The bottom line must be who pays for its ongoing maintenance and a keeper to oversee operations. A large sum of money to get something built might be an obstacle that could be overcome by raffles, rallies and donations. But to maintain for years to come when it might see little actual traffic other than those wanting to say they'd been on it - and possibly only once? Best left a green sward and the plaques and information boards such as exist.

HNBC published a booklet entitled 'Our Disappearing Heritage' a few years back showing all too often new infrastructure that impairs and impedes, often in the name of 'safety'. Yet such structures - especially new railings - can add to danger in boarding and alighting from craft.

A friend posted me a short Vimeo video of London by Claude Friese-Greene. It's beautifully filmed, and the colour is most appealing. Shots of the Thames around the Pool, but mostly London as it was in the 1920's. http://vimeo.com/7638752 Amongst the comments was another link to a whole trip from Land's End to John O'Groats. Canals do feature albeit briefly, but one shot shows a loaded boat coming out of a lock on the Glamorgan Canal, loaded with what looks like moulded bricks. http://beta.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a1cd5c1 Notable points may be; 18m 11s Cardiff Docks; 19m 50s Glamorgan Canal; 23m 44s Narrow boats 'ELIZABETH' and two others plus shots inside Wedgewoods decorating room; 34m 49s Oban, fishing and gutting; 45m 30s Ballahulish Ferry; & 54m 00s London, with a little more than the former Vimeo. Overall, a fascinating insight to life in the British Isles in the mid 1920's, with a depth and detail I have not seen before.

Just so. It's a 'turnover' bridge taking the towpath from one side to another. Often there was iron work placed that also helped prevent towing lines from snagging. On some sharp bends on the BCN, vertical rollers were fitted on the inside of bends for the same reasons. Most are gone by now, though there might be some somewhere.

Only place they are not so dense is in the desire to be seen to be actively engaged in developing their ability to climb corporate ladders and in personal salaries and pensions. Cynical but true.

Fascinating stuff. Love all this historic sleuthing! Well done.

Thanks Nick, I've missed out on much not being local, and the 'Cap'n' has certainly done some research! Much to discover just perusing his 'Lost Canals' section.

I don't have any maps, but do have a cruising guide by the Birmingham branch of the IWA. It doesn't mention any of the wharves along the Toll End Communication canal, but the entrance can still be seen here: http://goo.gl/maps/t829d Not the basin, but the smaller bridged to the left of the basin. This dove under the railway and the rest is largely speculation as to where Eli's boat dock might have been. You can almost trace the course to Great Bridge with a bit of imagination. You can follow the course through the industrial area North of the railway and across Alexander Road and alongside 'Brooks Meadow' (there's a shallow ditch that marks the likely course). There was a lock along that stretch, and an inlet/basin to the North. Just before you reach Upper Church Lane there seems to be a sharp turn to the right, with a short stump/basin dead ahead. On some old maps there is shown "Old Canal" extending beyond Church Lane possibly to Cotterill Farm Colliery. The cut having turned abruptly right, goes through another lock just before Upper Church Lane then dives beneath just North of the Zebra Crossing, continuing along the back of the Fire Station. It then crosses what is now a playing field and skirts the top of the Cemetery where there was a lock. There was another lock just before passing beneath Bridge Road. Now the canal line is taken up by the road within the industrial estate until it reaches Toll End Road where it goes beneath - the bridge abutments are visible. The line now goes through the parking area of the big warehouse and joins the Walsall Canal. At the junction now obliterated, is a pipe bridge parallel to the towpath where the Toll End Communication Canal ended. Don't get mixed up with Tipton Brook. This ran alongside on first one side then the other. I think I've got that about right. I'm not local, and only going on what can be seen from aerial shots compared to old maps.

An interesting explanation, but appears to be based upon the lack of a wider perspective in the education systems at large. It was obscure, and remains so. I learned of some Shakespeare plays at school (in England) and learned to avoid any such if possible preferring a railway embankment to cop numbers (steam engine numbers). I had heard of Zulus, but knew nothing of them not having been taught of them at school. Most of a persons education is gained from after school is left - and it never stops. Should we blame the education system - or ourselves? If CRT are at fault, we have yet to see that fault, as most of their inherited problems are from the previous custodians (some might say vandals). But like our railway and road networks, much has changed along the wayside. Only the privatised branch lines and transport museums hold keys to our historical past. It is not to the private boater one should aim a desire to consider the canals as historic artefacts - most are well aware of this already. It is to the property developer and Council alike - but your chance of any sway in that direction is close to nil. Interesting to learn that the Zulu word for the short spear came from the sound it made when pulled from the body - Ikwla. Not unlike the sound of shopping trolleys pulled from the mud. (I suppose there had to be relevance somewhere).

Can you explain the relevance of Shaka's spear and Shakespeare to canal infrastructure, its boats, and history please.

To consider that historic boats are NOT a tourist attraction comes as a surprise to me. I have always considered them to be part of the history of canals, and whenever and wherever I have cruised, people have shown an interest in the boat, and I have always responded with some potted history of not just the boat but also of the cargoes and destinations available. Quite often this has been met with surprise: - "I thought it only went a few miles" is a comment not infrequently heard. But for linear moorings, I fear we are our own worst enemy. Let alone the marinas full of mostly modern craft, are we not in an ironic situation that 'Waterways' were in over seventy years ago - Too Many Boats? In some ways we are not, as not all are likely to be on the move at any one time save Bank Holidays whereas 'Waterways' (and I mean that not in any specific, but carrying companies in general) were short of crew. cargoes, and facilities - and faced with road competition. Today it seems to be moorings, and getting ahead becomes difficult when there are lines of moored craft where once there was clear towpath, no generators, no clutter. It's 'society' that has changed. The history is there, but it's been lost in the main through development demands and the smudging of former evidence of their purpose. Perhaps that's the problem. Most of history is in the archives bar a few remnants, as history alone does not turn sufficient coin. We read the books, watch the films, and regret its passing - or do we? The camaraderie was in part created by common hardships and a desire to outshine your peers, but it was all graft, graft, graft. Those buildings and boats echo it, but those tuned in to hear are a minority, and seldom wealthy. The rest - do they care?

Really?? Oh well . . . In all its debauched glory: The vendor claimed it may have been built in the 1920's

Could be a starting point Richard: http://goo.gl/maps/Ym7Z6

That recollection is begging to be turned into a ghost story!

You will have to develop the technique of swinging the towing line under the footbridges and catching it as it comes up the other side. It comes with practice (I am reliably told), though a Monkey's fist on the end will help.

Remind me to stop pontificating. The link fails with error 404, but this might be the intended: Boat Museum Society tlc project. Click on the 'work done' links to see each craft.

Forgotten where I read it now, but during 2011 the Environmental Agency put up NO red board warning signs on it navigations. During 2012, it put up over 3,200.

Blists Hill Victorian Village seem to have managed it with the Severn Trow. The open sided shed adequately covers the Trow and the Ice Boat alongside with a raised walkway to view the deck space. Space is always an issue though, and Ellesmere may not have enough. It's true that company boats were often found to be in work worn condition, but it was the individual crew and live-aboard families that put the shine on all that they could. Likewise the Number Ones - owner boaters. Perhaps some reasons why so many wide wooden canal boats were not saved is that they made; traversing a wider network impossible; increased the maintenance costs; needed more expert handling; and few - unlike Thames sailing barges, fishing vessels and other coastal carriers - would take, or be equipped for coastal voyaging. The narrow boat could work almost all of the system, take up less of a canal in width. Maybe it all came down to costs alone, as it seems to with our museum craft.

I think that is a little unfair. There are a great many wooden boats in private ownership in far better condition than those left to rot at Ellesmere. We all know funding is paramount to ongoing necessary maintenance, but what are Ellesmere's plans for their boats? The 'burning' of boats is not the usual activity of owners, more like vandals. Those "surviving" look more like fallen Oaks. They may harbour a myriad of critters and fungi, but essentially they are dead. They resemble those left up the Wendover arm, picked clean and open to the elements, that many have survived is down to private ownership - and of those private owners, most will happily support contributing to museums, but when such vessels are left in that condition they may well consider that charity starts at home first. Quick learners?

Be careful! I have 'One day' projects that have been lining up from thirty years ago, and I'm now 65 - and more have been added along the way!! Edited to add: I think 'Today' is probably the best option!