Hairy-Neil
-
Posts
4,806 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by Hairy-Neil
-
-
Which canals are we talking about?
Seen more on the river navigations than canals. Loads of Grebe on the Witham, Nene, South Yorkshire (Don) Navigation
-
If this is she
Susanna was Baptised on 9th Dec 1821 in Bedworth
Interestingly the father's occupation on that record is listed' as 'Vagabond'
-
Once something is in written text it's most difficult to change.
My own experience is on the Sleaford Navigation. The third lock down has a surviving toll office. I first walked the canal around 30 years ago as a result of an article in Waterways World, and noted that said toll house was said to be octagonal when in fact it is hexagonal. Every article and leaflet I've seen on the navigation since has continued the error, including Wikipedia.
I've just edited it (wikipedia), I wonder how long my edit will survive...
Even the Sleaford Navigation Trust gets it wrong on their own website...
-
My grandmother was embarrassed, if not ashamed of her boating roots....
-
Thanks for the information.
My Dad was also born in Uxbridge/ Harefield (inside Black Jacks Lock) a few years after your Mum
Grandparents settled in the Yewsley/Cowley area in the late 60's
My grandmother lived in Pinn Close, Cowley, for around 40 years (c.1960 - 2000), just opposite the Paddington Packetboat PH, off Cowley High Road. My uncle still has the property.
-
I've known for years that I'd got boaters in the family but have recently discovered that my great, great, great grandmother drowned in the Warwick & Napton Canal at Stockton.
From The Leamington Courier 20 December 1873Death Drowning. Susannah Benton, 55 years of age, wife o: Frederick Benton. steerer, of Warwick, was accidentally drowned in Griffin's Pound, Stockton, on Saturday last. The deceased was returning to Warwick empty canal boat, belonging to Messrs. Greaves, Kirshaw, and Bull, and fell over into the canal. supposed she was under the influence of liquor. The husband also fell into ai, but contrived to ai, to rescue nimself. At the coroner's inquest the deceased, the verdict Accidentally drowned was returned. The body of deceased was brought Warwick, and interred on Wednesday. We are informed a discreditable scene occured at the funeral, through the misconduct of one of the bearers. It is stated that the body of the unfortunate woman was conveyed to Warwick in a carrier's cart.
Could anyone please tell me:
1. Which is "Griffin's Pound, Stockton",
2. Any information on the boats of "Messrs. Greaves, Kirshaw, and Bull",
It is sobering to realise that soon afterwards, and quite possibly as a result of the drowning, her daughter (my great, great grandmother) and husband John Cotton, moved onto the bank at Uxbridge, where they settled and he thereafter worked as a Coal Heaver. Fast forward a couple more generations and mother was born, Uxbridge 1937. -
We bumped into him on "Midnight" many moons ago, ISTR on the River Wey. We had quite a chat, a nice bloke.
Midnight was a moorer at Pyrford Marina...
-
The reason for leaving guillotine gates open is so that the lock can at as an additional weir by water flowing over the gates. If you close a guillotine gate, water can't flow over the top. Better to leave it open so water can flow under it.
Hey?
Surely if that was the case, once the lock had filled the water flowing over the top gates it would also weir over the guillotine....
The way a guillotine is used as an additional weir is by chaining the mitre gates open and winding up the guillotine...
-
I'm not sure that it matters what they hear.
The tree huggers have a one-track view of the world in which there can be no accomodation.
So, we should adopt a one track view. We won't do anything to harm endangered species that are there, but given the problems they cause us, we will do everything that we can to avoid accidentally creating a habitat for them.
I'll go with that, but that's different to your earlier "slash and burn" comment that implies we should, given half a chance, ride rough shod over existing habitats. I love boating but it wouldn't appeal the same if it was in a sanitised channel...
One-track views can never work. Everyone should be prepared to meet half way...
-
I would love this canal to Newport to reopen, but it will probably never start, as i've heard about it for years. Also if it does start it will only end up like the Monty and take forever, unfortunately I don't intend to live that long so i'd rather more money was spent maintaining the system that's still in water.
Casp'
Restoration grants usually come from different pot to maintenance funds. The Heritage Lottery Fund for example will pay for restoration. It won't fund new build or general maintenance...
-
I was hoping that someone from WRG or from the Shropshire union canal society would be able to explain why a WRG workgroup could not finish the section from Redwith to Pryces bridge. Looking at the SUCS website the distance is 400 metres. Since 2008 200 yards has been completed. 100 metres per year!!! According to PETE's excellent Montgomery website there were 4 weeks planned last year but nothing seems to have happened. Why? This year nothing seems to have been scheduled. Why? I also note that the gates at Welshpool have been replaced and there are another two stoppages on the welshpool length which at this rate will not see boats for another 100 years!! Could they not have been repaired cheaply until navigation is nearer and the money spent increasing the navigable length. I am not a member of SUCS although have joined the Norbury to Newport community interest group as there seems to be an optimism that the people of Newport are keen for this to happen.
Carl
It has never been WRG's intention to restore the whole Montgomery canal single handedly. Their prime purpose is to demonstrate that it can be done by restoring stragegic lengths, with the hope that the local authorities will then take up the batton. The Mont has had at least its fair share of canal camps and work parties over the years and there are 101 other worthwhile canal restoration sites around the country that are demanding their time.
BTW, Not speaking on behalf of WRG here but as a volunteer who put in many hours on the Aston Locks length. I'll also hazard a guess that you are a boater who fancies criusing this length and have never taken up a shovel/wheelbarrow/brick trowel in anger...
-
I did email WRG but have not had a reply as yet. As for Great Crested Newts they are very common in Shropshire. What a waste to replace gates on a canal that has no boats. Some gates on the Norbury to Newport section would be welcome.
Carl
Has that got boats then?
If the newts are that popular in Shropshire then surely they'll also be an environmentalist campaing to prevent that canal's rebirth as well. Are the Norbury Wharf boatyard going to give up their drydock without a struggle....
Given that it keeps cropping up all over the place, it is clearly VERY good at colonising new environments.
Basically, the important thing in restoration is to slash and burn. Make damn sure than no species ever establishes itself.
That's just what the tree huggers want to hear, that boaters couldn't give a sh!t about anything but themselves....
You are truly lucky,I can't remember when we last had a sparrow in the garden. Tree Sparrows, Pheasants, Reed Bunting - 15 to 20 species a day but House Sparrows (and incidentally Starlings) not a sign
My mother did the recent RSPB Birdwatch and noted starlings at 100+...
I know them as flying rats...
-
Likewise, twice I've been all the way to the tunnel portal, on a boat built to historic tug proportions (believe it draws 2ft 9in). Yes there are bits where progress is slower than others. Weed was a far bigger problem than depth, so go early in the season before it takes over...
There was an historic boat rally at Retford about 18 months back and several of the attendees continued up to Worksop and back, 'Chertsey' included. At the time they couldn't get further than Stret Lock, though I understand this pinch point has now been addressed....
-
Probably out of copyright and in the Public Domain now, like sound recordings and (I think) books after 50 years..
fifty years after the death of...
-
Not necessarily, although I'm no expert.....
A subscription service like Ancestry.com seems to have a fair amount of Swedish records online, although I'm mindful the serach function says "These records are in Swedish - For best results, you should search using Swedish words and location spellings."
Some of what Ancestry holds incudes.....
Thanks for that Alan. Will pass that on to my daughter who's currently running with the family history batton, having taken over from my father, who took over from me when he retired.
Back on topic, I watched the first episode last night to see what the fuss was about and wasn't so distressed I couldn't watch it.
-
We don't really know for sure, families are/were not always entirely 'conventional'. It's not something readily proveable via available records, but has always been in the oral family history that he was a great....great uncle. Right name, right area are easily proved, precise lineage less so.
Frank Hedley (LINK) was definitely connected to my mother's family and claimed William Hedley as an 'uncle'.
It might all be somebody's fantasy from the past, of course.
That link includes an interesting quote from William Hedley commenting unfavourably upon Stephenson's celebrity!
Tim
My family's folklore has a link to John Ericsson, of the Novelty fame. My father was apparently given the name Eric on the strenght of it. All we've managed to prove is that we're definitely not direct descendants. To further it would mean a trip to Sweden, who I understand have excellent births, deaths and marriage records.
-
I didn't hang around long enough to see who got most of the credit for the design and build of "Rocket" - George Stephenson, (who it regularly gets attributed to, with no further explanation given) or his son Robert, (who many think should be credited with far more of the achievement than should his father).
Not forgetting of course that they nicked the idea of a blast pipe from John Erikson when he turned up at Rainhill trials with the 'Novelty'...
-
Does anyone know what boats these are, what lock and what year please.
Also what's the story behind it. Thank you
Darren
IIRC it's Sandiacre Lock on the Erewash Canal....
-
It was actually done by the Americans in WW2 to confuse German U boats.
The DCT had a boat built like this so that it could operate trips into Dudley Tunnel. The tunnel was later altered to make it unnecessary. Not sure what became of the boat....
-
I'm thinking differently to most of you now. Steal a 30ft boat, cut it in half, make it a 60ft boat. Everyone's searching for a stolen 30 footer which no longer exists...
The snag is that a 30ft boat will have an engine and propellor suitable for a 30ft boat. make it much longer and you'll need to swap the engine too, as well as a major refit. Yes, there are odd boats which buck this trend. Hire firms tend to have a common engine type throughout the fleet for economy of maintenance.
My biggest fear is that in discussing it we could be giving someone a business plan....
Indeed not but trying to conceal it probably isn't a recent development either.
I'm sure somebody could do an excellent job of cutting and shutting two different models of car, but it would still obviously be two cars.
I once built a car whose bodyshell was made up of parts from seven different vehicles, but would challenge anyone to tell where the joins were...
-
I'm with you Mike , sounds like they were mugged as well as maybe mugs themselves. It's a tough business but closing a pub this time of year makes no sense if you have existing licencees even if the owners change. I can't see anyone getting permission to change it into a house without a fight so hopefully it will be open again soon.
Braunston has several other pubs so sadly I can't see change of use being that much of an issue to the planners...
-
2. If the bridge in the foreground is fixed, that means that there is no longer any passage for private boats through the Dudley tunnel!
You are kidding yourself if you thought there ever was. The DCT by the fiting of lower than actual height gauges have, in an instant, excluded 90% of boats on the system. They do their level best to disuade the other 10% by, amongst other things, refusing boats that have been ballasted for the trip...
That said, I'd be very surprised if it was a fixed bridge in reality as it would prevent their own boats from being taken out for maintenance....
-
I can only apologise if this paragraph makes me sound "imperious" but I am so much more interested in researched fact than speculative fiction, especially as much of the information I have has come from the public domain and only requires a little time and effort to extract.
Pete, you contradict yourself in the same post...
I am certain that a couple (possibly five) of Large Ricky buttys were also transferred to the South Western Division at the same time but I can find no account of these. -
I recall Neil having to overnight by the A38 when bringing Chertsey up to Stretton to miss the stoppages last year, maybe that has coloured his impression?
I've spent many a night in trunk road laybys in my lorry. In fact, just last night I was awoken at 2AM by two Norfolk Line rigs parking up just inches from my bumper. IIRC the beer that evening was amongst the best of the trip, so more than outweighed any road disturbance...
Mooring at Merry Hill
in General Boating
Posted
I used the shower here last autumn and later, phoned CRT to report that using it was a health hazard... The drain was blocked and having the water running for more than a minute or two was flooding the whole facilities block...