knobbly

Unfortunately I am told two new gates are needed. They will be built at C&RT workshop at Stanley Ferry workshop who have been to measure up, but they are short of two long pieces of timber ( greenheart?), none of that length available in UK and they will have to be ordered from abroad before the build can begin. At least it should be at no cost to C&RT meagre budget other than some loss of earnings from river licences.

i used to work at Weston Point as the Customs Officer when it was a busy B.W. port. We had 14 ships " in charge "from foreign ports" in dock between Runcorn and Weston on one day in the late 1970s. Sad to see it as a land storage depot rather than an "inter Model Hub" that Eddie Stobart publicised when they took the lease from BW but things change. I have passed through with a boat twice from the Weaver that way some years back, there used to be two electrically operated swing bridges to get through to the outer basin. Just before the lower swing bridge is the inner basin gate holding the Weaver level back. You passed through to the outer basin and the inner gates closed then they ran down the level, took about one hour to make a level with the MSC,. The outer gates the opened onto the MSC. This was a daily occurrence depending on shipping. The outer gate to the basin was always closed after traffic as a safeguard to the Weaver levels otherwise everything was on one gate which was seen as unsafe ( as it is now). When the lessee took the lease from BW people told me ( hearsay, towpath talk, could be wrong , just what I heard,) that the lease said that they must maintain the navigation for boats to and from the Weaver at 24 hours notice from BW if required due to Marsh Lock problems. Soon after the lovely hexagonal lock keeper huts ala BCN at the locks were flattened and the outer lock gates to the outer basin were seen to be back and the outer basin was at MSC level allowing silt in from the MSC. Nothing has gone that way for it is said 12 years now . Maintenance as per lease, couldn't possibly say ???

Hi, a bit of a bugger with Marsh Lock out of action.

Wincham could have been back on the River Mersey within a week and good for another twenty years of museum/ rally use for about £6k of repairs plus slipping charges, (which were already covered). A couple of doubler plates each side, properly applied would have done the job. The hull plating was mostly 10mill as could be seen when she was cut up. What a waste of years of work given fee of charge by volunteers. They said " she ran like a swing machine on the way to the slip". Not surprising as the ex deep sea Chief had spent 10 years going through everything and renovating it. She was in much better condition than when she was in commercial use by BCHS that is for sure. And much better than some commercial ships that dock every day in Liverpool having voyaged from all over the world. I think this is the soundest vessel I have ever seen scrapped. All very strange. As for what signal it sends out regarding responsible attitudes to public money.......?