Derek R.

Flood barriers are up in Ironbridge. More water coming down.

Two books spring to mind; 'Three Men in a Boat', and 'A Caravan Afloat' by C. J. Aubertin. http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/2nd-september-1916/21/a-caravan-afloat-by-c-j-aubertin-sinapkin-marshall

'Shock' absorbers and dampers often get mixed up, though the type of shock telescopic absorber as show also incorporates a damper in the centre section which more often than not contains a reservoir of oil; calibrated holes through which a piston forces the oil through (creating a damping effect) and sometimes valves which may allow freer movement in one direction than the other. Some dampers can be friction pads in disc or linear format, tightly held by strong springs compressing the disc, some of which are adjustable, some set at the factory during construction. In such a type, oil is not their friend. A rubber pad is also a shock absorber, but of a more simple type. Item No.38 in the drawing would most likely be the position of any rubber pad. I've always liked the Ham Baker gear. The positioning of the paddles and their size, makes for fast emptying and filling. If you pull them 'right' when ascending, the boat will hug the side wall nicely. I've almost always 'dropped' them by knocking the jaws off the spindle whilst controlling the drop with a firm grip on the spindle. You will need tough hands for that though. A few won't drop, so wind 'em down.

Regarding your last sentence - yes it would. But I'm looking at the relationship between the whole row of cottages and the bridge arch. Both images are very similar. Both images are taken at almost the same point of view. Yet there is so much more of the cottages in view that are NOT in view in the original. Plus - the lock tail is so much farther away from the bridge arch in the contemporary shot. Was the entire lock moved back up the canal 15-20 feet? Furthermore; look at the number of raised bricks for footholds on the right hand side of the slope. There are eight in the 'new' shot, but ten in the B & W. Also, note how that slope ends in a 'point', whereas the 'new' shot it ends squared off with the towpath beneath the bridge. The raised brick footholds beneath the bridge are also missing. I've searched the Macclesfield and the Peak Forest and there is no other lock site that matches. Which brings me to the conclusion that there must have been some substantial changes made there.

I don't know the location, but what stands out like a sore thumb to me is the relationship of the bridge arch; the lock itself; and the row of buildings. There is a similarity in architecture, but either the bridge has moved; the lock has moved; and the row of houses have taken a walk.

Re-used railway sleepers. Many a line-side coal yard had staithes made from railway sleepers, as were some small houses and sheds in the Highlands.

They got the name Navvies for the very reason they helped dig and build the Navigations, the canals. When the railways came along, and later major trunk roads and Motorways, the name carried on. Navvies, workmen who helped build transport systems but the origins of the name reaches back to the Navigations.

Your cockeyed.com website throws up a security risk warning.

You won't find it online for free (though you may have done at one time). Clutter or not, it is available and worth it: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381428418228?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=7101533165274578&mkcid=2&itemid=381428418228&targetid=4585169654799836&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=412354547&mkgroupid=1305120599331881&rlsatarget=pla-4585169654799836&abcId=9300541&merchantid=87779&msclkid=7939a287f9bd1c05d3bec7fc8191fa48

I clamped a 3.5hp outboard onto a wooden canoe once. Had to sit on the port side with the outboard on the starboard to balance it out. It flew! Trouble was, the speed we were going at sent a wake of water from shaft of the advancing outboard upwards and into the canoe, so tickover only!

I daren't comment on the Gaffer . . .

Mast, Oar, Scull and Pump maker. And perhaps someone is a keeper of Pigeons, as that looks like a rudimentary loft on the roof.

My screen has dandruff falling down it. Santa brushing his beard most like.

Playing tag on the Thames.

I have a titanium Kunchner nail in my femur, put there in 1966. Should have come out in '68, but enthusiastic activities bent both 'nail' and bone. Still in there 57yrs later. Give the bone time to knit together well!

Imperial measurements are available, and are still understood. Converting from one to the other does not change the thickness, nor does it change the rate of advancing corrosion.

The first boat (from the left) has its rudder and ellum hanging from the safety chain, the second has none, the third has the ellum in the pintle, but displaced from the bottom, the fourth has none. The two middle boats are very run down, especially the third. I suspect all have original long distance cabins and probably been selected for their bouyancy and not appearance. Contact with the bank may have dislodged the two that can be seen, maybe the other two are stuck on a weir somewhere.

I'm inclined towards the River Severn. I have a book on them somewhere, now if only I could remember where it is . . .

I don't know how much traffic there was for milk on the cut, but there must have been collection places where lorries would trans-ship in bulk. Ordinarily, loaded lorries would deliver to milk processing plants for bottling. Whilst the canals pass many farms, I doubt you would find any that would 'ship' their twenty or forty churns canalside onto boats. Those were fleets under contract to 'fill' boats, and that would take a dedicated depot.

I think it is more likely the spiral is for empties. A full milk churn holds ten gallons (Imp), and having had to load same onto the lorry during my teens, can vouch - they are heavy! It would take two of us to lift a full churn from near ground level, to lorry bed height. A UK gallon of milk weighs a little over 10lbs. Each churn therefore holds 100lbs of milk, plus the weight of the churn. That structure might not withstand the overall weight of over 8.5 tons presuming it can hold upwards of 180 churns (which it looks like there could well be that number). I would suggest that incoming lorries would off-load onto a bay level with the flatbed of the lorry, where handlers would 'roll' the full churns (one in each hand) skilfully into the shed for processing. After washing, the empties would be elevated via the mechanism shown. Gravity would feed the empty churns down to the loader seen at the bottom so that the waiting lorry can be loaded with empties ready for the drivers next collecting round, exchanging his empties for full from the farms.

To Australia? The simple living van looks to be part of a circus/funfare set up.

Image from upstream of Hicklings lock, looking towards Simpsons. Gets my vote.

Almost certainly a Braithwaite & Kirk boat. (Different ice though). Stem fender by Joe Bridge, Skipton.

There is also no lock within sight of Grantham Gas Works (as was). https://tinyurl.com/ydvfu5mn Here's a long shot: Firth & Clyde Canal just West of Glasgow. Imagine looking East from Temple Lock. There's a lock ahead, and to the South East with Gas Works No. 4, and Kelvinside brick works beyond. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15.8&lat=55.89405&lon=-4.31851&layers=6&b=1 Long shot.