BuckbyLocks

Whilst it is accurate to say that Ramlin Rose and Maidens' Trip were written by authors,, in the case of Emma Smith, this was her first attempt as an author, for which she won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for 1949. She went on to write several other books and short stories for both adults and children and her autobiographies 'Great Western Beach' and 'As Green as Grass' record her early life. Emma, (as Elspeth Hallsmith) was an early Trainee on the Grand Union Scheme so she did have first hand experience of what she was writing about in Maidens' Trip and although a composite story, the events all happened, albeit to a succession of young women, working with Elspeth as their Trainer. Even Wilf is based on a real person (who went onto marry One of the protagonists in real life,) existed.

NB Buckden, with Sue Yates steering. Can't remember when or why though.

As David Mack says, Perch fits the bill as it was reregistered as Northwich 90. Perch was rebuilt, I think by Barry Argent, and as far as I know is still very much around. It was a bit of a wreck when it lived in Birmingham in the early 70s.

Quite a few, but we also met on lots of other occasions, like RCHS Meetings. Ian will probably remember my daughter finding him food when he arrived back late on board from an expedition to some forgotten waterway site in Germany back in the mid 90s.

Hearty Congratulations to Magpie the Elder! Very best wishes from Some of the Kingdom Tours Friends.

The connection is with the sea, i.e. above the rest of the land surface being The Netherlands, The Markermeer is rather a large volume of water in the event of a breach in the dam that the overtoom used to get the boats to market before the lift was built.

No idea of the actual lift, but the Broekerhaven Overhaal (Netherlands) isn't very large. Built around 1920 to lift cabbage boats and has a sideways operation rather than using a caisson with doors. Replaced a mud inclined plane. Restored in the 90s but I have no idea of the current state of the machine. Been through it a couple of times, but not recently.

Bognor had a JP2 in it through the 70s.

CS engines are pure Lister though. No Ruston involvement. I'm sure I have come across JP1s used as stationary engines.

It was the last time I was there!

The Grand Junction Canal Co used similar to the BCN Boundary Markers. The area round the Welford Reservoirs is crammed with them. This one is in captivity, and shows the way they were secured below ground.

We hired Blue Swift 1 in April 1970 and again in April 1971. I think there were a couple of Blue Swifts, Blue Sapphire, Blue Swallow and another Blue as well as a camping punt. Blue Line ran a hire fleet alongside their working boats and you had to run the gauntlet past all the moored pairs outside the yard entrance, as well as the camping boats beside the Bottom Lock when you were taken down to the lock for your instructions on locking. (There was a pair of these campers actually watering in the lock when we arrived and we were delayed quite a time.)

We were at Norton Canes when the filming of Take me High was being done. Nearly got thrown out of the Cinema in Staines when we went to watch it because we kept commenting on the number of direction changes. The tree that falls in front of the land rover in it was felled by my next door neighbour of a few years before. We were back in the Basin when Benny was singing and the fore end is visible in the line of fore ends. ATV moved our boat off the Car Park bank without asking so they could film an episode of Crossroads there. They claimed that BWB couldn't tell them how to contact us!

'Adelina' D. W. Horsfall Canal Press/Shepperton Swan 1981 Hb.

This kind of weedcutter was very common on the canals when we started boating in the late 60s. Never saw one in action, but I believe they had a petrol engine driving paddle wheels and a linkage to the blade which was like a larger version of the Allen Scythe. There was one on display in the old Top Lock at Stoke Bruerne for some time and I am sure I remember one either at Bradley or the BCLM.

I have said it several times to Tim that the music ALL DAY is TOOOO Loud, but it has obviously fallen on deaf ears as nothing changes. Braunston was much better when it was first held.

Mid/Late 80s Snowy was working from the bottom of Chester Staircase. I would need to find my logbooks from that time to be more specific, but I shared the staircase on one occasion and met them by the winding hole by the main Chester - Ellesmere Port road on several occasions.

May well be a different branch of the family, but there was a W Allcott working for GUCCC during WW2 on Arcas and Malus. I understood their family lived at Stowe Hill Wharf before the A5 was 'modernised' and a few years ago there were still Allcotts in Braunston. One worked for BW.

Hockley Port, Dudley Port, Ellesmere Port, Stour-Port, Port Sunlight,

Jack Griffiths was working the boats Bargus and Uranus in 1944. There are some photos of him in the photo archives of the Imperial War Museum but I do not have a reference number for them. The name given in the captions is wrongly given as Gribbis though.

When we first encountered Braunston Puddle Banks 50 years ago, there was a large heap of puddle clay stored next to the point where the dredgings were unloaded as the embankment was quite wide there. I always assumed that the local clay was suitable for repairing the canal so some was stored where it could be easily accessible in case of need. Some of the wartime photos of the bomb damage to this embankment should show the original construction methods but I don't have them currently to hand. I recall that the reconstruction gang were working too slowly and were replaced!

My first thought as well.

"The other one was Tyburn. Used to be at Uxbridge not sure where it is now" Tyburn was the renamed Worcester and Birmingham Canal Tunnel Tug. 'Birmingham'. Built by Abdulla and Mitchell like 'Worcester'. It was Section 8ed many moons ago and was technically saved as part of the BW heritage fleet. When last seen a few years ago it was cabin less and mounted on a plinth at Tardebigge Yard.

Yes, although the hovercraft is really on the river Rea which runs underneath the canal at Spaghetti Jct. Mostly filmed around Gas St and we were nearly thrown out of the cinema in Staines because we burst out laughing every time there was a change of direction. For example, Cliff is seen heading off towards Smethwick and the next scene shows him near Hockley Heath. My childhood next door neighbour felled the tree that supposedly fell in front of the Landrover in the woodland scene. The Brumburger Restaurant was the church hall of the demolished church that stood on top of the Broad Street Bridge/Tunnel.