billh

The MS & L railway bought out the Ashton, Peak Forest and Macc Canals in 1846. They actually encouraged traffic , particularly from Bugsworth as it was a source of Limestone ballast for their new railway. The MS& L became Great Central in 1898 and GC became LNER in 1923. The 3 canals known as the Western Canals , (there was also the Chesterfield) went with the railway. None of these canals became derelict until BW (D&IWE) got their hands on them. The LNER maintained them quite well until its demise in 1948.- they had a rather powerful Steam dredger ( the Joseph) which saw a lot of use on these canals- this was scrapped after nationalisation and replaced with ... nothing. Bill The LNER extended west into North Wales - to Wrexham . The Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay line was Great Central, then LNER.There was also an LNER line to Wigan Central and the Cheshire Lines to Chester and Liverpool. Bill

I understand these BS5s are like hen's teeth now. Guard it 24/7 , probably worth more than the Ruston! Check the operation of the solenoid and contacts that put full power on when it's engaged . Worn contacts or bad adjustment is common. Bill

Just looking at Laurence's video clip reminded me of Whatcroft Flash and got me thinking....... Boat one : Ian Riley recovered the "Scotia" from the flash , years ago. She had been a motor maintenance boat ( fleet number 6) for the LNER, mostly operating on the Macclesfield Canal. So, questions: was she motorised by the LNER ? Had she been a "knobstick" Anderton Co boat, she had very fine lines and looked very elegant? What engine was fitted? i know that Ian cut her in half on the bank at Runcorn ( Boat & Butty yard), but what became of her? Broken up & burnt or what? I have heard that Scotia had a painting of "Flying Scotsman" 4472 loco on the engine room bulkhead during the 1930's - the same company owned the boat & the loco, so that ties in. So, where did she come from & where did she go? Boat two: George & Matthews, coal merchants of Wolverhampton had a wooden motor built about 1935 called "Wanderer" ( Wolverhampton- geddit?) it was fitted with a National 2 cylinder diesel. They also had FMC President for some years. Sometime shortly after nationalisation, Wanderer came into the ownership of BW (D&IWE) , possibly taken in lieu of unpaid tolls by G & M. The boat was taken to the Gorton,Manchester dock , under her own power, so apparently not in bad condition being rather less than 15 years old and never heard of again. So, does anyone have any idea what became of her? Cut up & burnt or transformed with another identity to be another maintenance boat in the North Western fleet?

I've done it. A heater matrix from , I think, a scrap volvo, about 8x4 inch, two computer fans mounted behind. The whole thing is built into the step at the back door. There is a manual switch for the fans and the plumbing is in *series* with the engine coil of the calorifier.The matrix does not warm the cabin area unless the fans are on and does not seem to affect the amount of hot water made in the calorifier. With fans on , heat is available within a couple of minutes of engine starting from cold . The engine is a Mercedes 2.4diesel and the cal/heater plumbing uses the connections on the engine that the cab heater would have used when it was a van engine. I was surprised how well it worked. Bill

This sounds like the inverter is detecting over-voltage from the boat alternator. I think Ange said the boat batteries were aged, so they may not be taking charge properly and the supply voltage is too high, engine running. Similarly, with engine off , the inverter is detecting under-voltage after a short time ( the boat batteries have low capacity and/ or shorted cells ) and this makes the inverter "scream" before it switches itself off ( around 10,5volts usually). Bite the bullet and get new boat batteries, the rest of the kit is probably ok.Am I talking nonsense? Probably. Bill

Run by Tony Shilladay , initially based at Fairfield Junction, Ashton Canal. There were no facilities there in those days ( not so many now!). So how they managed to clean & service I think, 4 hire boats is beyond me. They then moved to PB and had an office and workshop in the west side of the Canal Warehouse. Later sold out to the owner of Junction Mills next door who only ran the hire business for a short time after before selling off the boats. I bet the boats are still about in private ownership. Bill

That bit was my opinion, it wasn't supposed to be news and what's the Pope & bears' habits got to do with canals? Don't answer that, it's too far off topic.

'course there is. Ancoats bottom lock 1 , the bye wash flows down the concreted lock chamber . It is very obvious from both ends that there was a lock there. the others at 17 & 18 , the disused lock chambers are still intact and not filled in. The disused 18 lock even got new ground paddles a couple of years ago. Some folk thought the locks were to be re-opened but it was only for water control. The duplication of locks was apparently started in the 1830's just before "them damned railroads" came to the fore. The Ashton New Warehouse at Portland Basin was also built at the same time. the "old" warehouse was at Whitelands Road, the original terminus of the Ashton Canal. if you really want a heated discussion; how about which Ashton locks (& why) have mitred head gates ( a la Bosley). For information- 1, 2 & 18- nothing to do with the fact they were duplicated - doubt if 2 ever was and 17 ( which was duplicated) has a single head gate......... Bill

I don't know if anyone else has reported progress(?) here on the new fence but I had a look at it today. Most of the stainless steel posts are in place and about half the glass panelling. Each glass panel consists of two plates about 12mm total thickness stuck together. Interestingly,the panels are several different sizes , some apparently tapered , so replacing the inevitable broken panels is going to be very expensive. Climbing over the fence to access Minshull St lock looks very possible , not much more difficult than getting over the existing wall, so as soon as H&S get wind of people doing this , they'll have razor wire coils along the top.( use a convenient table/chair as a step up!) Horseboating or bow-hauling a boat should still be do-able, the top SS rail is continuous and smooth but there is still the problem of hundreds of tables & chairs all over the towpath.Perhaps the designers have listened to the HBS on this aspect? There is a new floating pontoon attached to the offside wall at the head of Minshull St lock, but to get enough clearance for boats to enter the lock, it is a large ( and possibly dangerous) step from it onto the lock side. the pontoon does not look particularly robust - a few blows from badly steered boats would see it off. My summary- a huge waste of time & money. Bill

If you mean by the well known local house builder's, there was a wide hole here to allow boats into the arm on the towpath side . This arm was at right angles to the main canal into the "accumulator works" , originally a textile mill and now part of aircraft parts maker "Hyde Group" You could turn a boat here 100years ago but not now. There were 2 other winding places between here & Warble . Just south of Well Bridge and about half way along between Well Bridge & Warble was the quite long Dunkirk Colliery arm - you can spot the wide where the junction was. Bill

RN diesels have starter rings for the National, they recently machined the flywheel and made the starter motor mounting for Daphne, the engine had become incredibly difficult to start by hand. Interesting idea about using the alternator as a starter- it would need some fancy electronics to do it. Years ago, the FMC Fern had a JP2 which could be started by motoring the enormous dynamo through the two v -belts onto the rim of the flywheel. There was also a small Ruston air -cooled diesel that could run the dynamo for battery charging and this could also be started by motoring the dynamo. The dynamo was a CAV 24v off a London bus (Routemaster?). As it happens, the JP was easy to start by hand anyway, so the whole set-up was over complicated and mostly redundant! Bill

I wouldn't try the one at Romiley, but you might get away with it in a canoe!. Dredging moorings is a kind of Catch 22. Your license to moor or whatever it is called , puts the responsibility for adequate depth and appropriate bank protection onto you but at the same time , they won't allow you to dredge it out yourself- an online mooring that is, you are supposed to ask BW and then comply with their requirements which disallows anyone from doing it but BW or their approved contractors , that's when the £s start mounting up - cost of bringing in plant and worse, disposing of the sh*t . Developers in Manchester were, several years ago, paying £700 per 20 tonne truckload to dispose of dredgings from near Castlefield, that didn't include the cost of lifting it from the canal. I reckon there's over a million tonnes of muck in the Ashton & P.F. and I can't see it being shifted anytime soon. As a matter of interest, the Ashton summit level was built 7ft deep to provide extra water capacity and allow for water shortages without stopping traffic. The PF was 6ft deep for the same reason- those were the days eh? Have you noticed the water level is about 4ins lower than normal just now? Must be the lack of rain.

Winding holes....when we ran Maria as a passenger trip boat we had to dredge the WHs ourselves, we did next to lift bridge ( now blocked by a sunken cabin cruiser and 2,000 tons of silt), the one at Dunkirk Bridge next to Dave's place , Hyde Wharf, and Unity Mill at Woodley(also blocked by fallen trees) . During the 90's all those places were regularly used and easily by 70 ft motor with 3ft draught and horse drawn Maria. Since that time , BW haven't done any maintenance of these places and have banned the privateer dredgers under the all pervading H&S legislation. ( at least that's their excuse). The current situation means that the 70 ft trip boat based at Ashton can't do trips up the Peak Forest without going all the way to Marple Wharf- too long for the average visitor's attention span, but BW still want the 4 figure license fee off the operator. Bill

I thought Carl would be advising wooden ones. Get a length of about 3x3 hardwood drill 2 big holes( depends on how many poles you have!) through and saw in half along the length. Voila ,paint or varnish to suit and they're cheap enough to replace when they rot after a few years.Any old bit of table leg or window frame will do. Bill

Screwfix list PP9 (57011) @ £2,89 each . I'll get one for my R200 next time I'm in and report back on its quality or otherwise. Bill

an extra 0-25? Fantastic! I thought mine was loud , going up to 11, it's one more than 10.......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7rWiY5obI

I just knew someone would post a picture of one. But you see what I mean don't you? The "19"set would hold you still at Trent Falls waiting for the tide though. Coincidentally, years ago I experimented with a 19 set motor generator power unit for supplying a valve amp on the boat , the various bits were in the boatman's cabin, so I could nearly confound you! I like the URL for the 807- "pinups"

Naa, An 807- those curves and that gorgeous top-cap ( I don't do pictures), and the lovely blue glow working at 500+v Yes, it's on topic , they can be found in boat-anchors. OC45? Only any use if you scrape the paint off them and use them as a photo-switch! Which forum is this? Oh yes, barge, wireless..... Bill

Pre-WW2 , a set in a boat would have used a wet cell for the valve filaments (2v) and a dry battery for HT (90 or 120V), It would not be practical to have a re-chargeable HT battery of the wet cell type. Also, pre-war very few boat engines had dynamos but of those that did, they would have their work cut out just to keep the battery, lighting and starting going. I am fairly sure that "vibrator" supplies for HT didn't come in until there was a demand for mobile radio etc for the military in the war. Dynamotors- a kind of 12v (or 24v) motor combined with a high voltage dynamo in the same unit , used a lot of power , due to poor efficiency and would have been rather impractical (and noisy!) just to power a small receiver. The development of vibrator supplies in the forties meant that Car radios working off 12v batteries became practical but I would guess that most boat sets would still rely on dry batteries and accumulator. By 1950, much smaller radios , like Carl's Roberts were in mass production using miniature , very efficient , battery valves that gave a reasonable battery life, using dry batteries for HT & LT. By 1958, portable transistor sets were around but then it gets a bit boring ........ Bill

Funny how they lit up when connected to a 12v battery then? ( They are labelled MR16 12vac - I have no use for 240v LEDS) They must have some extra circuitry in them to make them work off AC(bridge rectifier?), though it does mean that they are not polarity conscious on DC. From memory it's a 9v one about 200mA I think. I did , by mistake do the same as you and mix them up , using a 12v one, there appeared to be no ill effects. The 12v lead from car/boat supplied, gives the lamp 12v anyway

I just got a couple from Lidl,I also had one I got about 6months ago. The colour of the new ones is much better, the original was too blue. After a bit of experimenting last night, I decided that they were hopeless for lighting in a boat except possibly in an emergency situation. However, I did a few tests with them outside and they are excellent for illuminating dark paths and steps. Being 12v there are less issues with electricity outside in the damp. The 60 LED worklight that Lidl were selling for £10 a while ago, is much more impressive and is a must in any engine room- runs for a couple of hours on its internal batteries and can be charged from 12v or included mains PSU. Bill

It's better than that: Sir Hosis of the River is the one I've seen. Or , on the Macc Canal for many years: Ferric the Red (painted red) Years ago there was one ..... "Kinelle" belonged to a lady who regularly protested at Greenham Common Air Base, she might still be there for all I know. Bill

As the boat "overtakes" the snagged line the luby pin on the top of the towing mast flicks back, horizontal ( pivoted) and the rope end , which is a loose loop slips off the pin and the line can be safely unsnagged. The main purpose of this is to prevent the horse being dragged into the canal by the momentum of the boat( not likely at this location, I know). The crew member standing by the towing mast is an extra safeguard to both watch for the rope snagging and to disconnect manually in the unlikely case where the aforementioned doesn't work. The towline catching on various obstacles is a common occurrence on our now ill-maintained canal system and rarely results in anything more than a bit of shouting and a slight delay to progress. Maria, the boat you feature, has been horse drawn all her life( >150 years) and hopefully will continue to be. Twenty of those years she was operated as a 50 seater passenger trip boat ( from 1978) , there were no significant accidents to the thousands of passengers aboard in that time. In more recent times Maria has travelled many miles including to London and several times over the Pennines via the Rochdale or Huddersfield Canals. Can I politely suggest that perhaps you are over- reacting to the situation? Thanks Bill

That's rather nice , but it won't work off 12v. It has inspired me to make a wireless with oak sides and elm bottom. I suppose I could caulk it up and black it and use it outside on the roof cos it wouldn't fit through the cabin doors....... Wanders off to check valve stocks , oops , sorry, wrong forum. I had a 1960 Roberts R200 on Maria for a while, but even that was 100 years too new. Thinking a bit more , has anyone successfully managed to run an old mains set in their boat via a dedicated small inverter? All my tests resulted in massive interference from the inverter, though most wireless' worked . Bill