Chasbo

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/transport/2017/12/23/lorries-block-shropshire-road-after-satnav-error/ The lanes around Whixall are narrow even for a car!

Travelling back from Llangollen last Monday the aqueduct was as busy as I have ever seen it. I had to wait for seven boats before I could cross. When I reached the end of the aqueduct there were boats waiting for me to complete the crossing. There was also a man and a young child in an inflatable canoe who clearly could not control their craft. It was necessary for me to quickly engage reverse to avoid a collision with them. I suggested to them that this was not a suitable place for their canoe and reminded them that my boat weighed 17 tons, had no brakes, had limited steering as I left the aqueduct, and that it was not possible to see what was immediately if front of the bow. A woman on the towpath who I presume was the wife and mother of the pair in the canoe said to me that they had every right to be paddling there. Was she correct? I have looked on the CaRT website but can find no reference to canoes and aqueducts.

Thanks, Saltysplash, that's the information I was looking for.

"Google is your friend !!!" I am very friendly with google, but I wanted a recommendation. "If you are not building a boat, why do you need a boat shell builder???" A waterproof steel structure with a sliding hatch, windows, steps and a lockable door are things that a boatbuilder should be good at.

steel - Yes narrow - No wide - No sea - No canal - No river - No budget - whatever it takes High quality - yes I didn't say the project was a boat, but it does need the skills of a boatbuilder. CB

My son has asked if I find a boatbuilder for a project he has in Folkestone. Can anyone recommend a boatbuilder in the Kent area? A builder of shells preferably rather than a fitter out. Thanks CB

The first few miles would be very good. The stretch around Welsh Frankton would be bad. CB

I have just noticed this. http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2015/01/21/road-may-have-to-close-as-crane-called-in-to-lift-lorry-from-canal/ No need for a stoppage. This stretch of the Monty is unnavigable even without this obstruction.

No, I ran away and hid when the photographer came!

I have had ten archaeologists digging my garden all week. Unfortunately they were using little pointing trowels and not spades but they have uncovered a little more of the stonework at the western terminus of the Shropshire Canal. The local paper misquoted me. I never mentioned 1858 - I don't know where they got that date from. The most interesting thing they found were the bones of a pet dog I buried 25 years ago! http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2014/09/05/dig-reveals-canal-basin-under-telford-garden/

At Whixall Moss on the Langollen Canal there is a mile long straight which is half in England and half in Wales. New signs have appeared on the English side of the border forbidding mooring. Does anyone know why? I don't really think anyone would want to moor there and I cannot remember ever seeing a boat there. Very strange!

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will make some enquiries tomorrow to find out, if I can, exactly when the image was taken and what if any other techniques were involved. If the LiDAR had shown that the shaft was near the surface and had not been properly capped or filled it would involve me in great expense. (How much would it cost to fill a hole 120 feet deep and 10 foot diameter!) CB

Thanks for those links Richard. I think the second link gives me the answer - that the software is too clever for its own good. I wondered that too. But it is too much of a coincidence that the gap in the data is just where the shaft is. There are other black areas on the rest of the image ( that I did not include) but these are all heavy shadow due to a steep gradient.

Thanks for looking John. No, there is nothing visible there on the surface. no vegetation, no water just part of the drive outside my house. Hi Paul, That is what I thought as well. The first image shows the area with vegetation and the second one shows the same area with not just vegetation removed but also buildings and even a bridge removed. How can it do that unless the laser can penetrate bricks and tiles.

Has anyone got any experience of interpreting LiDAR images? I know this request is not exactly canal related but my garden is at the western terminus of the Shropshire tub boat canal and a friend has given me a copy of the LiDAR image showing the area around my house. The image shows an “anomaly” at about the position where it is thought one of the shafts of the tunnel and shaft system should be. If this anomaly is caused by the shaft then the laser must be able to penetrate at least 12 inches of crushed stone plus whatever else is capping off the shaft. Surely this is not possible? The image can be found www.oldwynd.co.uk/lidarimages.doc The anomaly is the black dot half way down the image on the left hand side just to the north east of a hollow. More information at www.oldwynd.co.uk/history.html

I had hoped to find one, but I could not see anything. Hence my question! CB

My Calorifier sprang a leak and I have replaced it. After a day spent getting the old one out (which involved much plumbing and dismantling of cupboards) and another day putting the boat back together I tried the central heating. The heater fired up but soon stopped. I am presuming that the Webasto heater needs to be bled to remove the air from the pipes. I think could do this by loosening and removing one of the hoses and quickly replacing it. Is there a proper way of doing it? CB

If the boat was very light (eg made of polystyrene) there would be a great change in the centre of gravity (and therefore the trim). If the boat was very heavy there would be little change in the centre of gravity. So we need to know how heavy your boat is. CB

I am sorry to sound like a sad Maths teacher (which is what I was before retirement) but I would be very surprised if it was exactly 30%. 30% probably means somewhere between 25% and 35%. Do we know how this figure was calculated and level of accuracy was used throughout the calculation?

The temperature of my hot water seems much lower than usual this week. Does the temperature of the water in the canal have any effect on the temperature of the water in the calorifier? Very cold water in the canal could cool the engine more effectively and there would be less spare heat to heat the calorifier. Is this possible? Or should I be looking at some other cause?

Last week I must have passed under at least 100 bridges on my way to Llangollen and back. There must be many thousands more across the whole country. But who owns them? And therefore who is responsible for maintaining them? If a bridge just goes from one field to another field on the same farm does the farmer own it or does C&RT own it? If it is a bridge carrying a major road then I presume the council or highway authority own it. But what if it is just a very minor road or public right of way? Most of the bridges are in reasonable condition considering their age but they won’t last for ever. Sometime in the future there is going to be a very considerable cost to rebuild them. I hope its not going to be the poor boater who has to pay!

The other boat should have not come out of her lock but she should have waited for you to exit your lock and move over. She could then have gone straight into the lock you had just left. The boat going up has to do all the manoeuvring and the boat going down has an easy time. There is no excuse for anyone to get annoyed. She was probably just as inexperienced as you thought you were. If she was experienced she would have realised the difficulty you were having and what had caused that difficulty. The locks at Hurleston are not easy especially if the wind is blowing you into the bank. To answer your question, you could have tried this. 1)Come out of your lock and stop the boat when the stern is just clear of the lock. 2)Put the tiller over to the right (as if you were turning left) and move slowly forwards. The result of this would be that the back of the boat moves to the right. The front of the boat cannot move to the left as it will touching (scraping along!) the bank. 3)When the back of the boat is about 6 or 7 foot away from the bank stop the boat again (if it is going forwards too quickly) and put the tiller over to the left and as you move forwards the boat will pivot round its centre and the front can now move to the right and hopefully you will still have enough room before you get to the lock. 4)You may need to reverse in the middle of that if the wind is blowing.

The advert looked to me like something from the 1950s or earlier. I presumed it was from some foreign country as it does not actually say what the currency is. You are right about Liverpool though! No, seriously, it is a great place (but not to try teaching). CB

I was around then and teaching kids in Liverpool how to convert from one to the other. A nightmare! CB

No such thing as 94p in those days. It would have been £-s-d. CB