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Everything posted by Pluto
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It could be 57ft 6in long as it was an A&CN short boat, rather than a L&LC short boat. That said, I don't know if the A&CN had boats specifically for the Bradford Canal trade. Having checked in the A&CN boat records I have, the following are the iron boats which they kept post 1921. A&CN iron fly boats on company’s books after 1921 1, short, built 1876, coal boat 5, long, built 1879 8, long, built 1877 10, long, built 1877 11, long, built 1877 12, long, built 1877 13, long, built 1878 14, long, built 1879 20, long, built 1877 21, short, built?, coal boat 27, short, built 1869, June 32, long, built 1871 59, barge, built 1875 60, barge, built 1875 61, barge, built 1875 62, barge, built 1875 68, short, built 1876, Pauline 73, long, built 1876 81, barge, built 1877 85, short, built 1878, Fair Maiden 94, long, built 1879 95, long, built 1879 96, long, built 1879 97, long, built 1879 99, long, built 1879, lengthened 1913, Water Wanderer
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I have just been sorting some of my digital archive, and have found these: a BW plan and section from 1986, and one from the 1838 Allgemeine Bauzeitung, with a translation of the text which went with it. 1838 General Building Journal.pdf
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Bingley 5-Rise celebrates 250 years of use.
Pluto replied to Alan de Enfield's topic in General Boating
The photo dates from 1956, when Coronation Road School, Crosby, hired Crucis, Plover and Darlington, for a trip to Boston, with 25 people on each boat. No on-board toilets seem to have been provided! A BBC crew started filming the trip, but the programme was cancelled. A newspaper report suggests they averaged about 80 miles per day, so no hanging about. -
"The Canal Map of Britain" at 8pm tonight on Channel 5
Pluto replied to IanD's topic in Waterways News & Press
The problem I have with such programmes is that I get telephoned by a researcher, spend an hour or so giving detailed and up-to-date historical information, and then they totally ignore it because it doesn't fit with the directors 'ideas'. When they used film, directors had a clear script to follow, nowadays the script is on the back of a fag packet and they take vast amounts of digital video and make it up when it comes to editing. -
"The Canal Map of Britain" at 8pm tonight on Channel 5
Pluto replied to IanD's topic in Waterways News & Press
The usual TV twaddle, completely lacking a detailed understanding of canal and industrial history, which could then be refined into something entertaining. -
This is the oldest Rochdale paddle gear I found when researching the paddle gear in 2004. It is on the water supply at Summit West. The ground plan of the stand is identical to the remaining indentations on some locks where new paddles have been installed. The XL file lists all the different types I found, and whether the lock had intermediate gate recesses for C&HN length boats. paddle:lock details.pdf You may find the text from my report on the Rochdale paddle gear of interest, along with incomplete detailed history of each lock. Lock details.pdf Report 2.docx
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Don't forget the Bridgewater six-planker motor conversions. I could only find this photo in the Waterways Archive collection. Note that the counter on Alice is formed by vertical planking fitted around the conventional horse boat stern.
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When discussing heritage and how to restore a historic structure, it is important to realise there was change over time, and restoration needs to be as at a specific date to be really worthwhile. At one time, I did suggest that three lock sites on the L&LC should be identified for restoration to how they were at a specific time. This could then be used for interpreting the canal's history, both for boaters and towpath users. Unfortunately this would be more expensive than simply using 'standard' gates. BW's engineers did have long discussions on how to develop standard gates in 1959/1960. As I have mentioned previously, I wrote a report on surviving lock gate drawings back in 2007, but it is too large to attache here, at 47Mb. I will attach a couple of drawings, one for a BCN gate, and one for an early Rochdale gate.
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Having checked through my collection Leigh Branch 1819 and 1821 Maps suggests one lock at Dover 7ft 2in, and one at Plank Lane 8ft 1826 Survey shows two locks at Dover and one at Plank Lane 1901 First Poolstock lock built. 1905 Lock at Leigh at junction with Bridgewater propose under MSC Bill. 1915 Plank Lane Lock removed. 1916 Second lock at Poolstock built. 1927 Only one lock at Dover, so probably removed sometime in the early 1920s. 1950s Final Dover Lock removed. The attached map appears to be the first in this sort of format, dating from 1884. The next is probably from the early 1890s, and includes the section, which was done for the Winterburn scheme application to Parliament originally circa 1890. Most of the non-L&LC material was removed, though some railways remained, as per Canalmaps example. A later version, with fewer railways, the table of Acts removed, and an outline of St Paul's inserted in the section was then created, possibly in the early 1900s. On some maps, the three branches (Leigh, Rufford and Bradford) are included in the sections, in some editions they are removed. The second map is smaller, and from the Leigh branch section, which is possibly incorrect, the date is circa 1915. The White family worked for the L&LC for many years: 1870, 1 Mar, Charles White engineer 1897, 18 Nov, Charles White retires and R H White appointed engineer 1907, 28 May, R H White dies, A W Stansfield appointed general manager & engineer 1925, 18 Nov, Robert Davidson appointed
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It will be a copy originally from the L&LC office in Liverpool. I have seen other archive material with the same cover. The map itself seems to have originated around 1890, when they were looking to improve Liverpool to Burnley to 100 ton standard. There is also an approx A3 map from this time, and they were used, for example, to promote Winterburn reservoir construction and the 1891 Act. The map was up-dated as subsidence affected the Leigh arm. Your map probably dates from around 1920, following the construction of the second Poolstock lock, and the removal of Plank Lane Lock. I would suspect that John Freeman gave the map to the IWA during an office clear-out, such as the move to Wigan in the early 1970s. The map is not particularly rare, and I have come across a number of examples, often rolled and uncut, in several archives. BW did have new examples printed circa 1970, and the transparent copy used for printing is in the Waterways Archive. The company also produced two booklets; one in the 1920s showing which carrier to use for specific general cargo trade after the company's carrying fleet and traffics had been divided between four private companies. These were coerced to form Canal Transport Ltd in 1930, and in the mid-1930s a map book showing businesses using the canal was produced, and I had an A5 copy printed for sale on Kennet some 15 or so years ago, now sold out. The GUC had a similar book printed.
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Yes, with what became a brewery being built on the left, and the new turnpike to Bradford crossing the canal.
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The drawings are probably in Warwickshire County Record Office, which holds some of the records from Hatton Yard (I think). Shropshire RO holds those from Ellesmere Yard. The best search engine for UK records is https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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If you follow this: https://heritage.ecoledesponts.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10481216f.r=écluse?rk=21459;2 you shou;ld get some nice lock drawings, some 18th century.
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Jessop trained under Smeaton, whose drawings for locks on the Calder & Hebble survive in the Royal Society Archive. No doubt he passed on the benefit of engineering drawings to Jessop, and a few survive by John Rennie, who was encouraged by Jessop. These three early engineers all had some form of academic training, which has supported the idea that academic learning was essential for training engineers. However, if you look at all our early civil engineers, the one thing which seems to unite them is that they have all had some form of training with master craftsmen. Civil engineering in the UK was led by craftsmen engineers, basing their knowledge on what had been passed on to them. Their ideas developed from existing knowledge through trial and error, with little coming from academic processes. Interestingly, on the continent, the engineering profession was very much academically-based, though most did not have the skills necessary to put their ideas into action. In terms of technology transfer, they were hoping to get skilled craftsmen from the UK, which is where we excelled. UK academic engineering training only really began after the railway age began, so they were years behind the continent. For example, calculus was not widely accepted by British mathematicians and academic engineers until thirty or forty years after the continentals. For about sixty years, from 1760-1830, it was British craftsman engineers who led the world in engineering excellence - its a pity our society does not value those skills sufficiently today.
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The L&LC Society needs volunteers to help with Kennet, both moving between events, and staffing when we open to the public. We have been very successful since taking on Kennet back in 2008, and she is now in excellent condition. Can you help maintain that success? We are having an open evening for potential volunteers on 6pm Tuesday 12th March in the Lowerhouse Pub/Canteen, Lowerhouse Lane, Burnley, BB12 6NB, or see: https://www.leedsandliverpoolcanalsociety.co.uk/kennet-looking-forward/#more-1481 If you can't make it, you can contact us by email: friendsofkennet(at)gmail.com or at events. We are hoping to be at Bingley on Saturday 23 March for the 250th anniversary of the 5-rise opening. Unfortunately, we have two lock closures between our mooring at Greenberfield and Bingley, so we may just be there with our displays. Can you help?
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This is Linnet Lock on the Rochdale during rebuilding in 1880. There are several photos, with one having the timing on the back - four and a half days for a complete reconstruction. This happened fairly regularly, so what we are looking at today on a well used commercial canal is unlikely to be what was built. It becomes fairly easy to see where major repairs have taken place once you know what to look for. Regarding technical drawings, the various projections were only just being decided upon in the early 19th century, so anything before that tends to be more of a sketch than a detailed technical drawing. What was relied upon during canal construction were written specifications, with the site engineer holding sketches which he would use to explain to contractors what was required. I did a survey of the bridges between Church and Whitebirk on the L&LC. All were built to the same specification and all had detail differences. Stone size varied depending upon distance from the quarries, with smaller stones being used on bridges nearer the quarry. It is obvious when you think of the problems in ensuring a safe load when moving the stone. It was also possible to identify the contractor from the way the stones were dressed, with the two or three contractors working to different standards, but to the same specification. There is still a lot to find out. For instance, chamber walls seem to have been built with wooden framing by some engineers. I have seen the remains on the Chesterfield, and I have drawings showing that gate anchors involved wooden framing on the GJC locks. I suspect most examples were removed as soon as the wood started to decay. It is an example of change over time, something that many seem to have difficulty in appreciating.
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As I mentioned before, upper gate paddles seem to have been non-existent on 18th century locks, and only appeared from the mid 19th century following the start of railway competition. If you look at old photos of the more minor canals, most do not have top gate paddles as they were not worth fitting where traffic was limited. The attached are drawings of the upper and lower sills on the Coventry, with the upper paddle filling the chamber from under the sill. The drawing is from the collection in the Austrian National Archives in Vienna, and are virtually the only detailed engineering drawings of English canal structures I have found from the 18th century. They were drawn in 1795 when a group of Austrian engineers visited England to look, in particular, at the construction of English canals.
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The problem is that lock design varied over the life of a canal, with complete reconstruction not being that unusual on successful heavily used canals. Photographic evidence shows Rochdale Canal locks being fully rebuilt from the ground up in three to four days. Upper gate paddles tended to be added when railway competition forced speed through locks to be increased, and other improvements, such as culverts along the length of the chamber, were added. Bottom gate paddles were increased in size to such an extent on the L&LC that counterbalances were required. Every canal had its own solution to the design of locks, and that variation is one of the delights of visiting different canals for me. Unfortunately, in restoration finances often result in standardisation and poor quality concrete design. However, that does not stop research into what was there originally, and how that changed over time, and that information can be used to enhance the visitor 'experience'.
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Impossible to say. The A&CN had a very poor reputation at the time, and had to be completely rebuilt in the 1770s when the new locks were built to conform to those recently built on the L&LC. They were much more substantial, with the disused lock at Leeds Lock being the only one surviving, though I suspect much rebuilt.
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The Leeds & Liverpool's offices were destroyed during that war. This was the entrance doorway in the 1950s. Liverpool Warehousing built their offices on the site in Pall Mall, the old warehouse managers house id beyond, and the Canal Mission was just beyond the warehouse.
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In 2006/7 I was asked by BW to search for what was available in archives related to lock gate and paddle construction. There is virtually nothing from the 18th century related to canal construction surviving, apart from some written specifications. There may be more information in canal company minutes, and I have just transcribed some of those in the L&LC records, and have started on the engineer's reports in the Lancaster Canal archives, though there are few specific details re lock construction. It would seem that drawings or models were held by the site engineer, and these did not survived after construction was completed. 19th century lock gate drawings have survived from the more successful canals, and some of those railway owned, as both would have access to a drawing office. That said, I have only found a few outline drawings for L&LC lock gates, but have found a notebook with specific dimensions for each lock, but no details of what timber size should be used, as any of the canal's woodworkers would have that detail in some form already. I could suggest that you purchase a copy of my recent book from the RCHS, as that is a translation of an engineering book written by an Austrian engineer who visited canal works in England in 1796 and returned to Vienna to build what was, in effect, and English narrow canal. However, each canal would have had its own specific design, and even that would vary from contractor to contractor.
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Another view of Severn Side, then the dredging tip near Purton, and finally the Bristol tar barge Darby being used as a floating mooring. I wonder what happened to the two cylinder Widdop engine?
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A couple of Harriet photos from 1975, and the remains of a larger sailing trow being inspected by a well-known narrow boat operator.