Tam & Di

I remember seeing that several years ago. Hugh's table cupboard is remarkably tidy - and actually using a Measham teapot to make tea 😁 Cael Lane's face is a treat as he watches them. Tam

Midland Connect throw in some weasely words about canals in the Express & Star piece, but on their website their report is described as "This document summarises our three main priorities described within the Strategic Transport Plan. These are road, rail and technology and innovation, all of which can help support a more productive, prosperous and sustainable Midlands" - so no mention of canals there then. Bulk freights like aggregates, coal, grain can be economic in certain circumstances - but it requires the supplier and/or end user to be waterside. As soon as double-handling becomes involved it's a no-no. • Limejuice for Roses came into London Docks, went upstream to storage in Brenford Dock by tug and lighter, and was then fed 100 tons a week - the tonnage required by Roses and which conveniently could be carried in two trips by a pair of boats - to Boxmoor. OK until Cadbury/Schweppes moved their processing to St Albans! 😟 • Allied Mills used rail to move imported grain from Tilbury to their mill at Weybridge. We 'stole' the freight by proving it was more economical and reliable with two small motor barges, but then Thatcher gave subsidies for firms to move to Corby 😟 • Slightly larger waters, but we bought a couple of coastal barges and contracted to ARC Marine to carry sea-dredged aggregates - we moved substantial amounts of Essex up the Thames to depots in Fulham and Wandsworth or across the estuary to Whitstable. Sadly ARC lost the dredging contract and sand had to be brought in from elsewhere 😟 The only one of these freights using narrowboats was the limejuice, but that was historic and it is difficult to see anything like that starting from scratch today, especially in Birmingham with 7' locks and pleasure boats scattered about. There are these ad hoc trip boats that come and go, following major events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, but none of them last long once the event comes to an end. You then have to allow for droughts in summer and ice in winter, but I'd better stop there or I'll start crying into my keyboard. 😢 Hopefully my pessimism will be proved groundless Tam

We did some work on this idea together with our ex-partner Tim Wood, now of Wood Hall and Heward, designing special containers that could be craned in and out. However there is no longer the infrastructure in existance. In the London area there used to be the Vestry wharves that would have been ideal, but they have all long-since been developed for bijou housing or offices, and the cost of reinstatement would be prohibitive. Tam

Who am I to decry it, as someone who has spent most of his life (and with some degree of success) trying to do exactly that? But here we have 4 people plus a crane driver loading something that would be put onto a truck by one guy with a fork lift in a moment. Then, unless it is wanted canalside, it will be put onto a truck anyway for onward delivery. If water transport can't be made to work on the large waterways, what chance is there on canals that only take 7' beam craft loading some 20-25 tonnes? It could work locally in a city like Birmingham, but only if there were some 'political' decision making it advantageous in some manner - perhaps some sort of surcharge on road transport if the freight could equally be carried out by water. Tam

A retired boatman lived on it at Horton Bridge in the 60s, and on one side it said RAY, and on the other it said YAR 😃 Tam

Yes, he had Mimas and Ray in the 70s and painted them in Ovaltine colours. Tam

And even that June post was picking up on one that was 4 years old. I don't propose to open the link to the projectgirl here either. Tam

I can't be 100% certain, but I don't think we used Bingley for that. (I've not got any notes here in France to refresh my ailing memory) When we first started, working directly for BW, we had motor Towcester but hired butty Hyades from Martin Toms. BW were retiring their craft as they needed a lot of maintenance. Ashby Canal Transport took on the limejuice contract from BW and they were going to use Threefellows for the job. Threefellows couldn't get down in time and we continued for the next year, but we'd already got Stamford and Bude by that time and this photo at Lock 80 by Dougie Jones is from that time. Threefellows then got a gravel job and we came back for the Rose's work until the end in 1981 when the Roses factory at Hemel closed. Thank you Alan for you kind comment about the state of our boats - you'll just have to ignore the unpolished brass on Towcester and dirty ropework on Bude here 😃 Tam

In about 1972 as I recall, with a slightly extended cabin and paired with Towcester. The bottom was rather shot, and we sold her when we bought Stamford and Bude from BWB in 1974. I changed our colours to red and blue with off-white lining in Jubilee year 1977. Tam

Alan Picken's was a labrador as I recall - they generally love water too. Tam

I'd assume it came over to Derry under it own power - that would be a fair old trip in itself. Tam

They're obviously not expecting any low bridges - they've even still got the mast raised 😁 Tam

It's a frequently asked question - here's one answer: https://www.facebook.com/martrainhaulageltd/videos/990720451606276/ Tam

Alan Picken at the top of the 30-12 used to throw a line from the boat to his dog and it would run around a bollard with it. Tam

One of the Twitter respondents comments on the clogs worn by the workers, but the Jollys worn by modern batelliers are not so different of course. . and very practical they are too, as you just kick them off when you step from the muddy bank onto the boat. Tam

Did she then sue C&RT because the ground was too hard? 😉 Tam

Put a pair of stilsons on the top and give them a twist?? Tam

Or as boatman Tommy Humphries used to advise, "Goo steady but keep on a-gooin'" Tam

I suspect not - she joined the forum on 14th May 2018, asked her questions and had several answers, and has not been back since that date. I guess she rather sensibly decided it was going to be too much for her, but I've not Googled the boat itself to see if there anything more recent anywhere. (nor looked on CRT) Tam

The canal forms the County boundary between Hillingdon and Ealing there, and the druggies tend to congregate on the Hillingdon side of Spikes Bridge. At least the Wellbeing Way will give them something better to look at across the canal. Tam

I must confess that I did not watch much of the blurb on YouTube, but I can't imagine what this is designed for. Certainly not canals, as it has no practical deck furniture (bollards etc) for use in locks. The windows look rather vulnerable too. Tam

What would you use the coal for on an all-electric boat? 🤷‍♂️ (actually I see it's called a yacht, not a boat, but that's another issue 😁) Tam

They do market Thomas as a specific vessel. Katherine does have a long skeg but looks otherwise to be flat. Tam