Derek R.
-
Posts
5,189 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by Derek R.
-
-
thank you thats great...where would i find the engine number?
Now you have me - been a while since I shifted my 2.2 on!
Ordinarily the engine number would have been stamped on a plate somewhere under the bonnet, and of course may not be on the engine at all, though I stand to be corrected. http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=115837 These guys have a 2.2 for sale, a phone call might get a more accurate answer to whether there is a number on the block, and whereabouts. Failing that, you could try the forums - this one seems to have similar questions:
http://www.oldmarineengine.com/discus/messages/3/93549.html
Or try some of the London Taxi sites, the FX4 series were fitted with 2.2 diesels.
http://www.lvta.co.uk/history.htm 'Contact' or 'links' might give a lead.
-
as i saw on another topic details about bmc engines and i understand they are used for boats,i wondered if someone would be able to help me. i have a bmc engine and i am trying to find out what cc it is...is there any way for me to do this? the engine is not in the vehicle anymore, it was an morris ld post van 1969/1970... any info would be greatful
This page http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/ldvan.htm says 2.2L for the diesel, though I've seen an Ambulance version with a claimed 2.5L.
If you have an engine number, you may get some more exact information from a specialist club - or perhaps Neil will come along and confirm one way or the other.
Derek
-
Charlie Atkins always told me that you had to treat the canvas with horse grease, but I never found out from him if it was from, or for, horses.
Bit like elbow grease then . . .
-
Ack, doh! It's not 2010 yet is it
Ooops
So, is there a run THIS year, or not?
-
One of the claimed advantages of the FG cab, was that the door when opened barely extended over the roadway, claiming to make it safer for both driver and passing traffic, hence the nick name 'threepenny bit' shaped cab - all angles. Not in the Fire appliance of course, but more here: http://ccmv.fotopic.net/c856845.html
Not so sure about a petrol engine being 'adapted' to become a diesel though as someone mentioned. They'd need a stronger block and head, along with flywheel and crank I wouldn't doubt. As Seamus Ennis might have said "I might be wrong, but I very much doubt it"
Who?
Derek
-
Thames Conservancy launches were also fitted with Thorneycroft, though I cannot say which ones.
Yarmouth had an ex-FX4 2.2 which I believe went under the marinised name of 'Commodore', and is still giving sterling service in Kalamaki.
Derek
-
Didn't the Fosters live aboard 1511 for a time?
-
Is there a collective name for a group of anoraks....
The 'Anoraksii', a tribe that evolved from a cross between the Duck tailed ex US Parka, or Parkaii and the Cagoule, the latter finally dying out when they lost all their note pads from pulling the garment over their heads.
Where were we . . . Ah! Archie Meads.
That's another one re-named then.
-
Where did they put the boards (and what were they called?) and how were they fixed? Someone asked me yesterday and I realised I'd never thought much about it and didn't know. How did this work in wide tunnels? Was it also done off the top of the boat? And if so which part(s)?
Legging boards.
It may not have been the same all over the system, as some boards were just a single plank that went right across. But individual boards, such as the ones used in 'Painted Boats', had a forged hook at the innermost end that engaged in an iron 'eye' in the centre or thereabouts of the foredeck. Watch Pa as he engages them at the entrance to Blisworth, and after they leave where he takes them off, the hook is fairly well seen as he drops the board on the top plank. They would be stowed somewhere in the front of the hold when not in use.
How wide is your 'wide' tunnel? If it was wider than Blisworth or Braunston, then likely it would have a towpath, and for the two mentioned - that's what the boards were for - to allow you to be extended out over the side to reach the walls. If you met a boat coming the other way, timing was all important - roll back off the board and heave it out the way - pass the other boat - and re-engage (only a guess, but what else?). Legging of the cabin top against the roof was done in some places, but depended on how loaded the boat might have been. Shafts were used in Worsley with staples in the roof to catch hold of with a hook.
Derek
Here you go - name that tunnel!
-
Middle Northwich Taurus, Bm 1594 GU gauging 12519. I see there are flags at the back too - tied to the cabin and engine room bulkheads.
So, buses got sticky tape on the windows, and Taurus got a metal plate!!
I wonder if the rolled up items (tents?) were being laid over ammunitions to prevent any stray shrapnel or shells from causing an explosion.
Interesting shots - Derek
-
Red flags might have indicated this but there were other colours in use too - they may just be an indication that the vessels were under military control.
I think the simplest answer is that red stands for danger (and they probably were red), just as a red disc was displayed on tanker barges carrying flammables. Seem to recall pictures of the gunpowder barges going up the Lee having something similar. And as Alnwick says, the military do like their flags.
Bet they didn't bang'em about on those trips.
Derek
-
Oi! 'Op it!
Wrong shed. That was Dalraddy.
Right shed.
-
Thanks for the prompt reply! My theoretical interest is not in trying to finance my own canal, but in ensuring that someone else does not nefariously attempt to dig a ditch through land I am considering buying. Just as a parcel of property is checked by solicitors before a client purchases it to ensure that it is not bisected by rights of way, so -- I would hazard -- it should be checked to see if ancient possibilities of canals snake through it. Who might know about this?
Apply to your County Council with regard to a search of some sort for title deeds to planned and aborted navigations through your land.
You might also like to contact David Sharpe who has written a paragraph here:
http://www.lhcrt.org.uk/cbw37.htm
I have no connection nor knowledge of that society nor its persons, and this is only from a quick Google search headed 'canal through land'.
Hope it helps.
-
Interesting thought, but I feel that is all it can be. If you fancy coughing up for a bit of canal building resurrection of former Acts passed before Parliament, you will not only find most of them under housing estates, ring roads and motorways which in the process of planning would almost certainly have caused any prior unused Acts to be repealed or made null and void by some means - but also the little problem of raising the finance necessary - the very same problem that stopped their construction in the first place!
A great many canals were projected at one time, and many failed the test of perceived viability therefore not gaining the necessary Acts. But that's another matter.
Try BW Archives at Gloucester, I would think they would be a fair bet for more info.
Derek
-
"Any ideas peeps and I'm not looking for cheapo 3rd world imports which might look OK on a jolly boat.
I want the real thing, is that so hard to ask for in this god forsaken country?"
I suspect a bloke in a village in China could make an equally good job of a water can to that made by another chap in Birmingham.. Where do these silly ideas come from, unless you think that it was making tin canal-ware that but the 'Great' in Britain.
Most of us have TV sets that where made in the Far East, but I suppose they're easy compared to a galvanised bucket.
Well, there's something in that. China was building brand new steam loco's into the 1980's I believe, they are no shorter on knowledge than those who built in Glasgow or Swindon. Doubtless any lower quality work would be down to a tight fisted importer not wanting to pay the 'going' rate. If we moan about not being able to buy the quality we once did - put it down to the buyer - who wants a low price for everything. Add the differential in labour costs between the UK and Middle and Far East, and with enough shipped in bulk, the shipping costs can be kept down creating a market place in which home produce cannot compete on price - end of home supply.
Got a bucket on the boat put together with rivets, and a handle formed from solid bar, might have been a Fire bucket at some time. That was dredged out the cut. Battered and bent, hammered and straightened - solid gold.
Derek
-
Sweet the simple pleasures! The shed my dad bought back around 1953 (3'x4') is still doing sterling service, though having been shifted 3 times. Only replacement is the base which I knocked up from second hand timber 25yrs ago. Creosoted now and then - the real stuff, some left over from better days - and brings back many childhood memories for me. I can well imagine a Granddad with his pipe, though my strongest memories are of sitting in it on a rainy day hearing the rain patter on the roof, the door just ajar, and painting Sea shells different colours from a tin box.
Derek
-
Sounds like a teacher seeking tuition.
-
There was a helmet with horns found in the Thames near Greenwich, but more likely to have been a ceremonial piece of headgear than regular wear. Like the Romans, the ornate headgear was not worn in battle as they provided too much of a handhold, something a little more practical would have been worn.
There is a very good series on the 'Celts' (a word of Greek origin) viewable here in three parts. They were a race of people sharing a common language that occupied much of the land that ranges between Turkey, right across and up to the Shetland Isles. Their remnants now exist in Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, with some remarkable reconstructions of an early town in what is now Germany.
Derek
-
Bowler hats in the workplace were usually worn by a company official or foreman, at least around the forties and maybe into the fifties. Back during the 20's possibly, an 'on site' ganger might have worn one, but I doubt he would be getting 'stuck in' with the Flat caps.
We had a Beadle on our housing estate as a kid who wore a company dark brown suit and Bowler with brass badge on it. Quite smart, and a bloody terror to us kids.
Strayed off the Woolwich a bit ennit?
Derek
-
Welcome to the madhouse.
I wouldn't think it a huge gaff, and of course you can call it what you like, but as it's a copy of a Star class and as Astraea is known to have been cut up (pictures in a forum thread somewhere), it's a bit like stepping on someone's grave in a Churchyard with a family member present. I'd be inclined not to. Though having said that, it's a nice enough name to want to.
Derek
-
You can watch Eric Sykes playing a 'Skipper' in 'The Bargee'. (Complete with signal flags, though most used fingers).
Get yourself a copy of Alan Faulkner's 'The George & The Mary', little A5 softcover. Depicts the history (a brief one) of the G.U.C.C.C. Ltd. All the boat names, type, and builder are listed in the back, though you will need someone with the knowledge to point out the differences from the cut side.
Derek
-
sorry i cant recal the name of the other boat,i was around six years old at the time i was told. i do remember that the boat had been stripped of everything & was towed to its resting place by a horse called sampson,i can recall grandad had a great fondness of this horse he often spoke of it but i dont think it was his.he also said the boats belly had more holes than his t-strainer & was sinking before it reached its resting place.
There's a retired gent by the name of John (Tug) Wilson at Cassio, whose Father used to keep horses for towing barges up from Brentford to Dickinson's at Croxley. John also worked with his Father for some time before the carrying ended and he went into the roofing trade. I'll wager he might know one or two things, I think he must have been born in the late 1920's. Next time I'm that way I'll look him up and ask.
Derek
-
Pay no attention Jeanette, you are welcome here.
-
I only listed wide boats specifically involved in the chalk trade as that is what was asked for. I do not have a date for when Thomas Clayton (Paddington) Ltd. took over the remaining Gelatinous White Co. wide boat (HENRIETTE) but it could well have been into the 1930's or even the 1940's, the boat appearing to be new in 1925 and the Grand Union Canal gauge table last being amended on 05 July 1946.
I think it is very possible that the 'chalk' boats refered to were either cement or asbestos carrying boats, both of which operated from Harefield. As far as British Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd. boat UXBRIDGE is concerned it was health registered as Port of London 519 (15 October 1927) as a wide beam motor. I have no reference to either a former or subsequent owner and the health registration was cancelled on 01 April 1949. Interestingly UXBRIDGE was not Grand Junction Canal gauged, or at least not under this boat name or owner. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of Mr Faulkner's book 'Grand Junction Canal' so I am unable to confirm whether this is the same boat.
The various references to "Uxbridge", both the place and the boat in Mr. Faulkners book tell little more about the boat other than show a nice photo of the wide beam motor boat 'Uxbridge' leaving Cowley Lock heading North. There seems to be more information in the picture credit than in any section of the text as a whole, though at this moment I have not gone through the whole book!
The photo shows a loaded, wheel steered motor with a crew of two (visible), "Registered Port of London" on the back of the engine room/cabin bulkhead, 'Uxbridge - London' on the rear quarters, two gents on the lockside wearing important hats, a smart car circa 1920's parked on the towpath, many double telegraph poles on the left hand side looking North, very few trees in view,those that are with no leaves - winter, and generally gives the impression of some directors observing an early passage of the boat. Undated.
Quote:-
. . Here the motor barge Uxbridge, owned by British Portland Cement Manufacturers Limited. leaves the lock heading Northwards, probably bound for the companies works at Harefield.
National Waterways Museum
Derek
Usk
in History & Heritage
Posted · Edited by Derek R.
Having just discovered, and linked NBW with 'Narrow Boat World' (never heard of it prior to), I would be tempted to either demand an open apology from the author of "Lucy cleared off at last" - Graham Philips http://tinyurl.com/mj6eq3 , or consider libel proceedings. Spouting ignorance is one thing, but writing without apparent detailed knowledge that depicts a situation that may be untrue - in public - is another.
Some people will jump on any slagging wagon to get a word in 'print'. First and last time I look there.
One would need detailed knowledge of the communications between Carl and British Waterways before passing any accurate comment, but judging from past experience in other areas - retention of historic sites and artefacts being just two - Ignorance and 'regulated procedures' seem to take precedence over sensitivity and common sense. There is always only one winner in any legal battle - lawyers. However, getting a satisfactory outcome that may protect others in the future by ensuring BW or their contractors have NOT overstepped the mark, might well be the only option.
If Carl is on a sound footing, would there not be a place for a petition, and if a legal action is in order (perhaps only Carl will know this, and it would not be right to air too much in public) - a subscription to same? I would emphasise that I am not inciting BW bashing for the sale of it, as has been noted, there are many diligent BW employees doing good work, but there are some who wield pens and keyboards with little connection with anything other than a pristine cut-glass world of 'sustainability' and all the hipocrasy that accompanies it.
Derek