BuckbyLocks

Watch this space madcat. Mike Askin moves her about so much no one else can keep up, but he reports in to the Forum regularly, with lots of video clips, so you will not have to wait long. He should have reached wherever he was going after Braunston. I did try hard to persuade you!

Yes, it is a regular thing on Buckby, I think due to the back pumps. That said however, and for all the sexist comments on here, we have both been working Buckby for almost 40 years and last year was the worst ever. We haven't tried yet since January 1st 2009 and have been assured by the local BW foreman that they have been 'improved'. Due to lockwheel them again next week, (for a real Boat) so will find out. The gates were certainly not balanced last year but 'Bradley' had been out to them. The bottom gates of the top lock were re-fitted during the winter and certainly seem to have been improved, judging by other peoples efforts when we have been sitting in the New Inn. Bottom Lock bottom paddles needed two windlasses on to start them the last time we operated them. This is the reason so many boating friends ask us if we are around to help them through the flight. My choice of words would be diabolical.

'Argon' was certainly in the Birmingham area (as Argon') in January1963, paired with Battersea, Captain named as A. Bromley in the Inspectors handwriting. It has disappeared by 1964 when Battersea was paired with Toucan, Captain G. Lowe. My understanding in 1971 was that she had gone to work for J S Brandt, Coal Merchant of the Soho Loop, BCN and came back to B&MCCCo with several of Brandt's boats in 65. Barbara was Brandt's Wife's name, and Linda was his Daughter. I don't have any copies of the Inspectors reports for the intermediate period but by 1971 'Argon' is back there again. I have a copy of a slide dated 66 which shows the name as 'Argon' once more. 'Linda ' reverted to 'Victoria' sometime in the mid 70s, but I can't remember exactly when. Certainly post 1974 as I had a temporary Thames Llcence that year made out to LInda 4. The two boats did work together in the early days of B&MCCCo.

While there may well have been a few rag rugs in cabins, it is highly unlikely they were made by the Boaters. Much more likely is that they took a scrounged hessian sack from stock to a canalside cottage where the 'art' of rug making was well established, for conversion to a rug. Most villages had several rug makers and that was certainly the case in my childhood. (well away from the Black Country). Rags were collected from everyone around - if you could supply a few bits of your own it may have helped, but where on earth would a boater have been able to store the vast heap of the stuff needed to make even a small rug? Yet another myth I am afraid.

"It's good to know I'm not the only one, and others swear by it also. Victoria has a huge rudder, and a few years ago someone was betting that people could not get their boat around in one from the Braunston marina back onto the mainline during the parade. Zac with Victoria was the only person to make money on it! :-)" Mike As you must have found out by now Mike, Victoria is very responsive (when the wind isn't blowing against you!) My feeling is that it depends entirely on the speed of the boat, and that is where most people get it wrong anyway. I was roundly bol****ed for paddling when I first owned her by the older boatmen in Gas Street, and rarely did it again, unless the engine wasn't running. What is wrong with a SHAFT? That said, when the coupling failed on a trip boat I was steering at the time, I was able to paddle to the bank without any of the passengers being aware of there being a problem. See you on Saturday?

Taylors bellfoundry at Loughborough used the GU for church bell deliveries for many years before the war. I am not sure if they had their own wharf or whether they used the pubic wharf close to the foundry. Whitechapel Foundry did not have such easy access to the cut.

The Leggers Hut at Stoke Bruerne still survives and is used by BW as the Lock Keepers Office. Inside the Museum there are two Leggers Boards, with the iron Hooks etc. and three of the identification arm badges worn by the Professional Leggers there. A separate Team worked from the Blisworth End. The Painting on the Leggers Boards is not however original but was done for a former curator. Will have to look for a date when they stopped, but it will have been quite soon after the introduction of the Steam Tugs.

But then even more keys could slide underneath and fall in! I am sure there is a moral there somewhere! 30 mm is generous when compared to the original spec which are positively dangerous. Hateful things.

I hadn't examined this pic but this does give the notion that these were War Department boats but who crewed them? Is Taurus still about? Alan Faulkner in 'George and Mary' says that 'Gemini' and 'Taurus' were on hire to the War Department, which suggests that this pair might indeed be G and T. IIRC Taurus was one of the River Trent Hulks that was sold off in the 80s and then went onto the Soar Gravel traffic. If I have the right boat it had a strange rudder on it. I think it might still be around, but haven't logged it for a while. My copy of 'George and Mary' is now kept in the safe!

I think on reflection we are more comfortable leaving the name as is rather than renaming it. After all it is a replica "generic" small woolwich and is not meant to be an exact copy of any particular boat - just a nod to historic narrowboats in general. Cheers for now Steve Saw 'Eclipse' on Saturday. Looks very tidy. Congrats. Enjoy it now.

It may have survived at Hockley Port, but it was supposed to have been towed away by BW and shoved up the Brickworks Arm at Tipton in the early 80s. It certainly left Gas Street then, just before they started the first clean up. It was a bit of a nuisance being sunk where it was as it wouldn't swing when you were trying to back into the bar. I don't think I ever heard the name, but Runcorn Motor boat it certainly was.

The one I copied was certainly dovetailed, but I have no idea how original that was. T S Brandt didn't work Linda with the cratch up, or with a mast box, let alone a mast. Mike, The JP came out of a Blackwater fishing boat, courtesy Exchange and Mart. The owner was replacing it with an electric start JP3. I will let you have more details when we meet up. Cheers

Looks like the Cutting near Brinklow to me. There looks to have been a landslip even then. No problem finding people or horses because all the boaters who were stuck in the ice would turn out to help, especially if they were given an incentive! Cheers

Ah, well, there is no cratch assembly. All there is, is what you see from the outside, plus two large steel braces (if thats the right word) attached to the steelwork inside to the deskboard (on the inside) with a slight bend thus giving the angle. There wasn't any bend when I made it Mike, so there is your answer. Either pressure from the top plank or deliberate action on Tim or Zak's part to give it a lean. The Yarwoods drawings show it as vertical. Steering will suffer if you drop the fore-end too far in, but you will not get far in Brum with the cratch up. That was the reason that the well counter was fitted as it was used as a tug, and not loaded so never had the cratch up anyway. Not sure if we will get to the Port this year, but will look out for you if we do. Cheers.

And I thought it was a job putting new washers in. Proper ones though, not the replacement neoprene ones. Had to go to Waddington's to find them back in the late 70s. The sticklebacks jammed the valves quite often until I got a new strainer on the outside of the hull. You could use old pennies in them if you lost the plates. Priming them after being drained down was always fun as well. Glad I didn't have to initiate all that work though.

Can't say anything about 73, and I didn't log any small boats but in August 74 Owl was spotted near Linslade, Birmingham and Balham were camping at Stoke Hammond 3 along with Bexhill and Brighton, Fulbourne also joined the fun there. Later in Leighton, Petrel and Moon and Crusader(Kimberley?) and Ara were winding - I think skippered by Alec Purcell. During all this toing and froing, Bicester passed through heading North, loaded with coal. The only single Josher motor logged on that trip was the Bream, near Weedon, but I cannot remember the condition at all and wouldn't have had the camera out. I imagine everybody knows about Owl's strange appearance as a horse boat in the late version of 'the Railway Children'. I can't find the date of recording on the outside of the DVD box but it is the one with Richard Attenborough as the Old Gentleman. Is it Bicester?

I think the Compass mention is a red herring. Not enough Points. There is a suggestion that most of the boat decoration has roots in the Oxford Movement, which has something to do with religion I understand. Might ask Son in Law when I see him later in the week, (in the Vicarage).

Can't find my 77 diary at the moment and there is a big gap in the log book for the refit that was obviously still going on after the tin cabin was fitted. If it wasn't the Saturday of the Calcutta Cup I was probably lurking there somewhere. They kept moving Victoria so they got uninterupted views from the TV centre during the filming of 'Crossroads' I recall. It was very handy to have a bankside mooring there when the warehouses had been demolished and before the pub was built.

There had been a lot of changes in the next few months in Gas Street, and I cannot place a couple of these at all. Might the Hyperion be in there instead of Cass, and Whitby was around later. The big wooden conversion in the bottom corner, Worcester side is the Edna Grace. IIRC that was owned by John Minton's (Victoria) Parents.

Mike, I forgot to add that you can hear the injector quite clearly on the pot nearest to you so you know exactly when to drop the lever for the best results. Check the timing though.

Loved it Mike. Brought back a few memories. The oil used to drain down in that engine. Watch it or you will overfill the system. Bit worried about the bit of string, especially if it cold. I found I could knock the lever down one handed without losing any speed. If it is too cold using the bit of string is likely to hurt your hand! The little cam on the fuel pump for starting used to come loose and fall off qute regularly. I never found it necessary, even in the depths of winter, although I did put it back on again when I found it. I couldn't see if it was still there. Good luck with Victoria.

Might be Ceres/Bridgewater No ?. or one of the other Bridgewater Boats.

Not sure of the top pic, though its probably on the Calder & Hebble, but the bottom one is of Wye at Barnoldswick, with Dee in the background. Taken around 1990-5? They are just creating a marina here at the moment after about twenty years of planning. Today, the only traditional boat in the area is Kennet, moored just above Greenberfield Locks. The L&LC Society is negotiating with BW at the moment to take her over. Top Pic Looks a bit like Leeds to me, but I don't think it is 'Horbury'.