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Pluto

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Everything posted by Pluto

  1. Surely the 'experienced investment professional with significant property investment expertise' are the ones whole have got the country's property market, and the country, into their current terrible state. There is an argument that someone with less experience and a more balanced economic view would be a better option. Successful canals were built by local people to help develop local communities and local businesses, so perhaps we should be building upon that as a foundation for a sustainable and viable future.
  2. Actually, I have seen it suggested that the trees lining the Canal du Midi were only planted 100 years after the canal opened. It is something I am hoping to research in the coming year. And even if they do consolidate the banks, there is still the considerable amount of water which a tree requires and which is lost through their leaves which can damage a canal's operation.
  3. The masts in both pictures look to have been made specifically for the job and have been kept as simple as possible, particularly as they would not have been needed that often so would have to be stored. Perhaps they were kept by the lock keeper responsible for the connection between river and canal. The L&LC kept the towing ropes and lights needed for canal boats working onto the Mersey at the lock house at Stanley Locks. As to flow, boatmen in unpowered craft would be much more careful about working onto flowing water than those more recently who had powered craft. Time was less of a problem then.
  4. There are a few letters about trees alongside canals in the Gentleman's Magazine: Dec 1792, pp1080-1 Letter from Dendrophilus re planting trees alongside canals to reduce water loss. March 1793, pp217-8 Further letter from Dendrophilus re correspondence over his tree idea. Other letters April 1793, pp301-2, Aug 1793, p715, Sept 1793, pp800-1, Oct 1793, pp907 (with good quote on boatmen stealing from farmers fields) The argument centred over whether the shade provided by the trees made it a better place for boatmen to work and reduced evaporation, compared to the damage they do to the canal structure and the loss of water caused by the trees themselves. Bear in mind that natural drainage provides a significant supply of water to canals, and trees will affect this. The answer seems to have been that trees were worth planting in France, particularly in the sunnier south, but that the damage they caused made them less benficial to British canals.
  5. Towing with a tall mast was usual for rivers where the banks are considerably higher than the water level. When sailing vessels were towed on rivers, they would often be towed from higher up the mast as it kept the line clear of bushes and the like, and the same towing position would be used on canals to keep the line clear of sailing gear. Note the gate in the field fence which is probably for the boat horse, so the towing line would need to be kept high to clear the fence. The actual force need to move a boat is not that great once in motion, and this would not cause the boat to heel over to any great extent - the pull is not particularly sideways. The second boat would also act as a stabiliser. On the second photo, could the wood on the bow be a bit like that used when connecting trains of boats on fenland waterways?
  6. B****r the narrow boats, what's the real boat behind them?
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  8. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  9. Under the 1894 Rates and Tolls legislation, many of the more successful canals were remeasured to ensure accuracy. For instance, the current L&LC cast iron mileposts replaced older stone mileposts which were at different locations as they dated from before the southern Lancaster Canal was taken over. There were a number of orders related to specific canals, and it was presumably those canals which installed new mileposts.
  10. At 61 ft 8 in, KAMA should have been able to reach Sheffield. Boats 57.5 feet long were probably built for the Calder & Hebble, though the Yorkshire navigations seem to have had no particular standard, with boats being built for specific traffics and waterways. This could also be a reason for KAMA's fine lines which suggest that she was destined for trades around the coast, perhaps to the Louth Canal.
  11. Just to bring the list up-to-date: Agenda London Amy Howson 1914 J Scarr, Beverley South Ferriby Beecliffe 1925 Rich. Dunston, Thorne Poplar Dock Charles William 1924 J. Scarr, Beverley Cowley, GUC Comrade 1923 Warrens, New Holland South Ferriby Danum Rich. Dunston, Thorne France Daybreak 1934 Rich. Dunston, Thorne Thames Drake Falmouth Dritan 1950c Hepworth, Paull Brixham? Elspeth May 1951 Rich. Dunston, Thorne London? Enterprise 1957 Hepworth, Paull Ethelwood 1950c Rich. Dunston, Thorne Shoreham? Ferncliffe 1925 Rich. Dunston, Thorne Medway Forward 1954 John Harker's Poplar Dock Guidance 1905 Stainforth Shoreham (wood construction) Harlequin Heritage 1957/8 Waddingtons Swinton? Hope 1908 J Scarr, Beverley River Thames Kama 1903 Gainsborough Germany Lys 1937 Henry Scarr Ltd Belgium/Netherlands Mimo Belgium Nidd 1937 Henry Scarr Ltd Belgium Onesimus 1913 Joseph Scarr, Bev. Keadby Orotan (James & Mary)1950c Hepworth, Paull Ireland Pioneer 1910 Gainsborough Stainforth Reliance Thames? Riccall France Richard Sara Sectan 1950c Hepworth, Paull Beverley Sequana Service 1951 Hepworth, Paull Sheaf Wakefield Shirecliffe 1923 London Sobriety 1911 Joseph Scarr, Beverley Goole Southcliffe 1923 Rich. Dunston, Thorne Goole Spider T 1926 Warrens, New Holland Keadby Swift 1894 Joseph Scarr, Beverley Wakefield Syntan 1949 Hepworth, Paull Beverley Thomas H 1940 Rich. Dunston, Thorne Staines Victory Harkers Rotherham Valiant 1959 Hepworth, Paull Rotherham Wey 1937 Henry Scarr (Dunstons) Nottingham Non-Sheffield-sized boats (Hunt's) Eden 1924 Henry Scarr Ltd Goole Egret 1905 Joseph Scarr Castleford? Hiddekel Goole Hunt's Kim 1923 Henry Scarr Ltd S&KC John M Rishworth 1915 Henry Scarr Ltd Milldock, London Misterton 1923 J Scarr, Beverley Staines (Lincoln sized boat) Phyllis 1907 W H Warren South Ferriby Taurus Swinton Vivos Swinton Billy boys Brillant Star Saira 1899 Hunt & Fowler, Hull Wakefield
  12. In terms of total length of navigable inland waterways, the maximum length circa 1849, when there were 4372 miles open, with 431 miles having been closed. It is always difficult to decide exactly what is a navigable inland waterway, and the figures are ones I calculated for BW in 2000 after compiling the figures for every ten years since 1700. In 2000, BW's estimated figures were 5014 total miles, 3160 miles of fully navigable inland waterways, 553 managed unnavigable waterways and 1301 miles of abandoned waterways, with BW responsible for 1723 miles of the open and managed waterways, the rest of the open ones being EA, Broads, locally managed or unmanaged. The question of what is an inland waterway is particularly concerned with tidal estuary and river waters, where there can be some degree of management or responsibility for navigation.
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  14. This is my best Bollinder photo. Chuck 'em out and get a real boat engine; a Widdop!
  15. Not disputing anything, what sort of answer is that!
  16. It's proper name is Hell Meadow Lock. It was called that on the 1802 canal survey, but had become Ell Meadow on the canal survey of 1827, reverting to Hell Meadow on the first edition Ordnance Survey, and then back to Ell Meadow on the canal survey circa 1893.
  17. The only place in Germany where hiring is relatively easy is on the Mecklenburg Lakes, to the north of Berlin. I think they have more relaxed rules governing steerers, but I don't have any addresses.
  18. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  19. The canal company was and is responsible for all bridges built at the time the canal was constructed. However, the bridge had to be sufficient for the traffic at that time, and as the weight and volume of road traffic increased, local authorities would take over responsibility when a bridge was rebuilt to improved standards. The canal company usually provided a one-off lump sum towards such improvements. Other bridges built after the canal was constructed, such as railway bridges, are the responsibility of those that built them. On the L&LC, if a bridge has a simple number it is C&RTs responsibility, if there is a letter involved in the bridge numbering, that bridge is not the responsibility of C&RT. Identifying the ownership of bridges was one of the problems after nationalisation, and there was a national survey done in the early 1960s to identify ownership.
  20. You know me too well Hugh. It is the River Douglas above Sollom Lock. It opened for navigation in 1741 and was bypassed by a new canal from Rufford to Sollom circa 1760. When the Rufford branch was built in 1780, it linked this short length of canal with the main line at Burscough.
  21. Sorry, but it's a bit further north, to give a clue.
  22. Where is this former river navigation? It was in use for around twenty years before being bypassed. Edited to add a video of a flash lock next to the Canal du Nivernais in France. The lock is used for rafting timber and has a greater fall than those used by boats. Flash lock
  23. If you are going for underground canals, I have a list of around fifty, such as the one at Neston Colliery which headed out towards Wales under the Dee Estuary, or the one in a coal mine between Rochdale and Oldham.
  24. Most of the L&LC had piling or improved bank protection in the 1890s following the introduction of steam boats. The summit level didn't, but comparatively few boats used that section. However, all the canal between Liverpool, Leigh and Barrowford, and from Leeds to Bingley had major improvements. At the time, the canal engineer reckoned he needed at least one man per mile of canal for maintenance, besides those in the workshops. Also, if the banks kept falling in, there would soon be a breach, and there were comparatively few of them historically on well run canals.
  25. It is interesting to see how much canals used to be dredged. I have just been reading a L&LC report from 1926 which suggested 1000 tons per week was not unusual, and I have found similar figures for the Bridgwater/Mersey & Irwell from the 1880s. The L&LC figure gives an average annual dredging tonnage of around 350 tons per mile, so to keep up with what used to be the norm, C&RT need to be dredging around 700,000 tons annually.
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