Derek R.

I've no idea. It was on TYCHO in '99, and probably still there. I hope so. Did see another identical at Stockton in 2002, parked up at the end of the dock. Nice piece of wood, got four coats of varnish on that one.

A 'Rhapsody in Brown'. Pass the erm . . . .

Off topic maybe, but then with the thread title as it is . . . Reference Sarah's signature - knowledge: Tim Minchin's 'Storm' poem to animation. - and this may seem familiar to parents: 'Lullaby'. Derek

Bluebell: My Nan must have had a tin around her house somewhere and that would have been pretty old in the fifties. Proper Zebo as well. That Hot Spot is rubbish at blacking a range. Got the cheek to copy the old packaging too! But Liberon do a good black leading paste - 'Iron paste' they call it. I've got a tin I bought in France all of twenty years ago, they call it Creme Chaumont over there and eisenpaste in Germany. I'm sure it's the same stuff - it's good. THIS LOT do it, it's near the bottom. 250ml £6.99. The content of Brasso will settle leaving a lot of liquid medium above the 'good stuff'. You need to put a couple of nuts in the tin and give a long persistent shake to stir it all up. You'll see what I mean after the nuts or whatever you put in, have been resting for a few days. Pick up the tin and shake - No sound - until they become dislodged from the settlement at the bottom, then you'll get the paste distributed throughout the tin-full of liquid medium. PEEK is good stuff, but expensive and I get the feeling it don't bring up a fine polish like Brasso. Shifts the oxidation well though. 'Shiny-Sinks' is good for that too - contains Oxylic acid, get it in Wilkinson's (Wilko's). Some folk mix a little PEEK or Solvol Autosol with Brasso, that works well too. Barkeeps Friend is another that can be used damp - lot of wastage with powder though, I think the container could be better designed. But then like Colman's Mustard - they made their fortune on what got wasted! Laurence, scumbled plastic Elsan Bristol lid? You need help.

More fool them if the weather ruins a holiday, this is England after all, and variable weather has been the norm for centuries. One of the reasons for the Costa del Sol boom - 'olidays in the Sun etc. Despite getting rained off when on holiday in Thorpe Bay as a kid, the experience of living in a little caravan and cooking on Calor gas (wonderful smell!) was enough to make the 'different' experience worth even the rainy days. And I still managed to get smothered in Calomine lotion to stop getting burnt - work that one out! Sure, we all like nice weather, but that brings out the crowds, and if there's one thing I dislike most, it's crowds. Toilets - none worse than public ones. The bucket is King. Along with Bluebell it was one of the boatman's favourite beverages.

I dropped my cheque book into an Elsan once. Fished it out, but the cheques were crap.

In a bed'ole six foot by three - it's not difficult.

Oooh - can we see?

Not come across that one other than as a type of ship. But searching revealed an interesting page or three: http://www.hemyockcastle.co.uk/measure.htm Derek

The British Library has its own website of course, and though I haven't logged onto it, it does appear possible to gain access without physically visiting: http://tinyurl.com/72xv83b If the 'tiny url' doesn't work, and I suspect it will not - try THIS LINK> Derek

And as with the pride of presentation brought through the centuries of equine management, I'm sure all brasses and tack would be polished to a 'T'. Boatmen's display would not have stopped at the boat, though there were always the exceptions. If the Company themselves might not have cosidered such showmanship essential for pride, I feel certain the individual given charge of their steeds would have - if only to show his fellows a little one-upmanship. Having said that, we have seen recent images posted of shabby looking craft not long after their commission, however, paintwork takes time and a dock, whereas brass polishing and the like can be carried out whilst underway, or waiting to load/unload. I fancy that when the railway companies were at their most productive and competetive, their image was everything. Perhaps this would have extended to their water craft, but as they themselves were in some ways the usurpers of such form of goods carriage, perhaps not? In 'Colours of the Cut' No. 32, Edward Paget Tomlinson depicts CHEOPS of the L.M.S. in grey panels, white surround and red dividing line. HOCKLEY of the G.W.R. was more basic: brown backgound with plain black letterin and surround. Whereas the locomotives and rolling stock of such companies in their hayday were painted, polished, lined and splendid in all respects. But again, we are left with the research of others and their written words. How much is 'copycat' research of value? The only way to know for sure is to access the records of the companies involved, and if it no longer exists there - conjecture and hearsay is all that is left. Always open to challenge.

I've been trying to see if any of the streets at Boothen are left by comparing Google Maps with the frozen frame at 2m 40secs. There are some, but the changes are enormous. Where the bottle kilns stood on the farthest side of the cut, all is now the dual carriageway - 'Queensway'. On the nearest side from the canal is all new industial estate, though that itself could be 30-40yrs old. Streets I suspect as being shown in the B&W clip are from right to left: Woodhouse; an unknown now gone; Stanmer; Cornwallis; and Selwyn. The road they all link to and which runs parallel to the canal is Maclagan. The Aerofilms shot must have been taken from somewhere above the railway and what is now Hyde Park Trading Estate. Superb clarity. Photography by glass plate for sure. Edited to add: There is a 'Home' page with search facility HERE. Punch in a place name or co-ordinates and enjoy.

Some fascinating shots of housing development, but a cracker of Stoke-on-Trent and the bottle kilns at 2m 34s. Further on what looks like RCD, though I may be wrong: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18542080

I dunno, but hauling it off to a stationary engine rally might ruffle a few feathers. Could always cruise past the moorings at Bulls Bridge around 3am - sans silencers of course . . .

£3,919 for a Baby Blake - Stone me! Do you get a boat to go with it? Think of the pocket money left over if you'd bought a galvy bucket with a nice mahogany seat instead . . . Bet Wyvern must have had a job lot from surplus. Many and wonderful were the 'things' available from Gov. surplus - ask Pop Larkin. Ploughing engines for £25 a pair . . . TYCHO's original RN was changed for another at some time - 3269 to 3217 according to BW's card indexes, but Pete has 3280 to 3217* from *ENCELADUS in 1956. The Petter 0331 (current) is recorded as being fitted Saltley 1958 as per cardex. Wonder what THEOPHILUS is like below water line. Something hard to replace is this: Think Submarine! One of Speedwheel's images. Hope you don't mind Mark!

With regard to any original engine, it would almost certainly have been the same as fitted to other Middle Northwich boats, a Russell Newbery 2DM. My mate read and looked at that advert and said "You are joking! Where do you sit?" I reckon £85K woud get it back into acceptable condition. I'd giv'em fifty quid for it. But then without £85K, the problems would start. No, there's only one Middle Northwich I'd want back - I didn't say that did I.

CHERTSEY's Petter sounded nice, and well done that novice(?) steerer. Try and keep your hands off the brass, it's the wooden peg that's meant for the hands!! Next round of brass polishing is yours!! Looks like a great day all round. Edited to add: Though I wasn't there, I did spot a nice Tilley Gaurdsman in CHERTSEY's engine'ole. Definitely one of the better ones.

Gobsmacking amount of work Chris. Have only ever built Balsa aeroplanes from KielKraft. Curious about Kevin's horizontal bandsaw - doesn't appear to have runners, nor does the piece. I can only conclude the timber is being run through the saw though, but how? ah! It's the saw. Seems to be at the end of it's track. Did a little helping out on a Scottish sawmill - no guard and vertical blade - they don't half fly about when they break! Luckily no-one got touched. Hope this isn't diverting the topic, but there's some interesting stills HERE and footage of the same steam powered saw-mill HERE. Video's amateur, but gives an insight to hand signals and the noise. Little 'Pond Donkey' is much like a small Bantam pusher.

I could have understood that more if it had been a painting.

Too much of an opportunity for graffiti 'artists', such as done with King Orry when on dock and approaching launch with much to do . . .

Thanks BEngo, should have remembered that name. Smashing bloke as I recall. I remember ION too, though didn't see much of it. Derek

I'll wager that's cold water being poured into the pot for the photographer! Newspaper on the range top, and no primus in sight. Miniature windlasses, and what looks like a 'Cottage' teapot tucked behind the stove pipe. Plates with trees on, can't say I've seen any like that. Fruit, 'scenes', flowers, royalty, cherubs and coats of arms, but never trees.

One of my favourite boats was IAN when moored in Aylesbury basin in the eighties. Elderly gent owned it (name on the tip of my tongue but won't come off) and the conversion was in wood in the form of an extended cabin, with a further section of the hold covered over with a cabin top but much glazed, rather like a conservatory. Gave the impression of a working boat as you could 'see' into what was the hold. Light and airy with some open fore end hold too. YARMOUTH's old conversion was partially destroyed when a former owner jumped off a lockside onto the cabin top and ended up in the cabin. New skylight created. It got a curved steel top and ply sides pop riveted onto a steel box section framework. Sadly they left only two inches of gunnel, and no stiffening, so she spread quite a bit. Roger Farringdon and crew sorted it out with steel but we lost quite a bit of 'character' - some of it gladly but not all. There's a fine line between expensive big boys toys and somewhere to live. You need a deep pocket to live on the bank and play boaters in any kind of boat, let alone an unconverted one. If you have the money - you have the choice. But it's all down to a money thing. If your boat is your only home and you love ex working boats, then as age advances back cabins can be somewhat restrictive in the essentials. Arthur Itis knows all about that.

Reading your blog Alan, you need a Primus. Just the job when the range fails to play ball, and usually can be tucked away down beside the range on the left. They do pop up on Ebay quite a bit, but check out Classic Camp Stoves for chapter and verse. The 'silent burner' models are best, as the 'roarer' lives up to its name.

Yes indeedy! Before it became a 'glossy'. And four pennies for a phone call. Our nearest was Wood Green Tube station just 100yds away. A row of brown cubicles with two piece concertina doors. Directories were bolted into a hinged frame. Always a good place to hang around if cold on a winters day, you got a regular blast of warm air from the trains as they pulled into the station below - and a most distinctive smell of - ozone? Accompanied by all the sounds so familiar from childhood memories - and Trolleybuses! A tuppeny ha'penny stamp on a postcard was also a quick way to communicate. Posted before midday it would be through the recipients letterbox next morning - no 'first' and 'second' class! Letters were 3d. And Telegram boys on BSA Bantams! There's a cracking good Post Office museum in the Blists Hill Victorian Village at Ironbridge. Not only got a Bantam in there, but a one eigth scale model of an articulated travelling Post Office - pretty big, lots of detail. All above the old Post Office on site.