Photo of lock from 1965...location identity

[Athy]

12 minutes ago, mark99 said:

 

 

 

 

Aha an early protoype of the EELady class.

Perhaps no longer a protoype - there's another one behind!

[Slim]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Perhaps no longer a protoype - there's another one behind!

I'd have said that the one behind is a totally different design.

A couple of things crossed my mind (not location) whilst reading this topic. Did the children ever think that 55 years later people would be looking at the photos on something called 'an internet forum'. Also if those scenes were 'captured' today the children would be plugged into their 'phones and the mother would be talking on hers

Happy days  

[magpie patrick]

14 hours ago, David Mack said:

From the Flickr set, this rather improbable looking craft seems to be the boat that is on the other end of the rope the lady is holding in the first photo.

 

 

As you say, a rather improbable craft! How did those bow windows see out the week? 

 

Were there many boats like this? Do any survive? Would one dare venture forth in one now? 

[adam1uk]

2 hours ago, Slim said:

I'd have said that the one behind is a totally different design.

A couple of things crossed my mind (not location) whilst reading this topic. Did the children ever think that 55 years later people would be looking at the photos on something called 'an internet forum'. Also if those scenes were 'captured' today the children would be plugged into their 'phones and the mother would be talking on hers

Happy days  

What occurred to me is that they didn't bother cutting the grass on the offside in those days.

[David Mack]

29 minutes ago, adam1uk said:

What occurred to me is that they didn't bother cutting the grass on the offside in those days.

Or the towpath side - where there was a towpath.  I can recall long lengths of the Grand Union, Stratford and Oxford canals where well into the 80s there was nothing but a narrow sloping muddy bank between the waters edge and the towpath hedge. During the 70s and 80s BW piled extensive lengths then sent the dredging crews in to move mud from the channel to behind the piling. The new towpath was a quagmire for about a year until the dredgings dried out.  Now those same lengths are level, reasonably well maintained mown grass.

 

[Derek R.]

9 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Blimmin eck Derek, your eyesight is better than mine! Philip's picture certainly has the same type of paddle gear in it, and yours may well have.

The image has been taken from quite low down, so only the handrail of the top gate is seen, and just the top of the ground paddle:

 

[Heartland]

The image captions for the family holiday states that it was on the Llangollen Canal and one image was taken on the Waterline to Llangollen

 

 

Another seems to be on the section to Trevor

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Heartland

[max's son]

Is the lad furthest away the first magnet fisherman?

 

I remember wearing those  kind of yellow lifejackets.

[Rob-M]

12 minutes ago, max's son said:

Is the lad furthest away the first magnet fisherman?

 

I remember wearing those  kind of yellow lifejackets.

I had one of those yellow lifejackets but it had quite a lot of black tap holding it together. It did keep me afloat though when I fell in the River Avon.

[max's son]

I was left bobbing in the Leeds and Liverpool after somersaulting off the boat

roof, I was 4

[John Brightley]

2 hours ago, max's son said:

Is the lad furthest away the first magnet fisherman?

In the 1960's my dad had a home-made magnet (well strictly speaking work-made -he was an engineer) which we used for fishing out windlasses.

In the1970's he bought a Sea Searcher magnet (which were quite popular then), and I still have it.

[David Mack]

11 hours ago, max's son said:

I remember wearing those  kind of yellow lifejackets.

 

I too remember wearing one of those bulky yellow lifejackets. But the photographic evidence would suggest I didn't wear one all the time on our first boat trip. This was Whitsun week, 1965, when we hired Blue Peter from Blue Line Cruisers at Braunston and got to somewhere south of Banbury and back in a week.

Me with my Father and Sister:

[blackrose]

The best way to identify the lock is through a process of elimination. I'm pretty sure it's not Woolhampton lock on the K&A for obvious reasons. So one down, I'll let you lot carry on! ?

[alan_fincher]

10 hours ago, David Mack said:

 

I too remember wearing one of those bulky yellow lifejackets. But the photographic evidence would suggest I didn't wear one all the time on our first boat trip. This was Whitsun week, 1965, when we hired Blue Peter from Blue Line Cruisers at Braunston and got to somewhere south of Banbury and back in a week.

Me with my Father and Sister:

I'd like to say you have hardly changed at all....

 

 

.... but I would be lying! ?

Edited October 14, 2019 by alan_fincher

[magpie patrick]

7 hours ago, blackrose said:

The best way to identify the lock is through a process of elimination. I'm pretty sure it's not Woolhampton lock on the K&A for obvious reasons. So one down, I'll let you lot carry on! ?

I can also confirm it's not Bingley Five Rise...

 

Anyone want to know out the other 1500 odd locks on the network? ?

[ditchcrawler]

Mutford Lock, because that has double gates at each end

[Joseph]

Hello everyone

 

The top paddles are definitely Shropshire Union type - I'm not sure when these were taken out and standardised. I'm certain it is the Llangollen line, and I would think Baddiley. One of the other shots shows Swanley Bottom Lock, with the bridge in the distance..

 

The boat is one of the S C Cummins (later Simolda) hire craft, based at Nantwich, built by S C Cummins, who also built small road vehicles. There were three or four. I'm not sure when these stopped operating, but they could often be seen around Nantwich. There were not, I think, very stable. Later replaced by more conventional craft, and the base moved from Basin End to a basin next to the turnover bridge. I'm not sure when this was or when Cummins/Simolda ceased trading.

 

Oddly, the only time I went up to llangollen by boat was in that summer of 1965, and we had those odd yellow life jackets. 

 

Fascinating stuff, and thank you for positing it. Odd to think that the very youngest child in that photograph will be pushing 60 now.....!!

 

Joseph     

[Philip]

On ‎23‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 22:20, Joseph said:

Hello everyone

 

The top paddles are definitely Shropshire Union type - I'm not sure when these were taken out and standardised. I'm certain it is the Llangollen line, and I would think Baddiley. One of the other shots shows Swanley Bottom Lock, with the bridge in the distance..

 

The boat is one of the S C Cummins (later Simolda) hire craft, based at Nantwich, built by S C Cummins, who also built small road vehicles. There were three or four. I'm not sure when these stopped operating, but they could often be seen around Nantwich. There were not, I think, very stable. Later replaced by more conventional craft, and the base moved from Basin End to a basin next to the turnover bridge. I'm not sure when this was or when Cummins/Simolda ceased trading.

 

Oddly, the only time I went up to llangollen by boat was in that summer of 1965, and we had those odd yellow life jackets. 

 

Fascinating stuff, and thank you for positing it. Odd to think that the very youngest child in that photograph will be pushing 60 now.....!!

 

Joseph     

Hi Joseph, thanks for the clarification! Do you happen to remember which locks on the Llangollen still had a top gate paddle when you went up it in 1965?

[Pluto]

A few SU lock photos, the first two by Geoff Wheat in 1969, the next by Gordon Biddle in 1965, with the final one by John Gavin, probably also 1965.

[Joseph]

Hi Philip

 

Have a heart, sir - it was 54 years ago, and I am, somehow, 54 years older!!!?

 

I think (just maybe) the top lock at Hurleston had top gate paddles. Can't be sure about any others. What I do recall is the somewhat miscellaneous form of the paddles - those at Baddiley stick in my mind for some reason. Sorry I can't help much - maybe someone else? 

 

Pluto/Mike - great photos; many thanks for publishing these.

 

Joseph   

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Joseph
Missing word

[Philip]

Thanks Pluto for those photographs...in the second photo looking down at the lock in the far distance, it looks like the top gate balance beam is wooden in the centre but steel at the end (the pushing end), I say this because the end of the beam (on the left) definitely looks a lot narrower than it does in the middle. Can anyone see what I mean? You might need to enlarge the photo! Also if you look at the photos of the staircase locks, you can see how the steel balance beams are smaller than the wooden ones, this is what I mean above.

 

No worries Joseph! Thanks for the info re Hurleston. One of those unusual 'swan neck' ground paddles is still in situ at the second lock down at Hurleston and I believe there was one at the middle Baddiley lock until relatively recently.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Philip

[Pluto]

Have you noticed that the top gates in the Grindley Brook photos are steel. The cost of gates was under discussion by BTC engineers 1959/60, and a number of different types were proposed. These included wooden gates which were glued, rather than having steel plate strengthening to the frame, as well as steel gates.

 

I have enlarged the photo with the gate/balance beam you mention.

[Philip]

Found another picture from the Llangollen Canal in the late 50s, this I'm fairly sure is the top Baddiley lock...

 

 

I can think of at least one clear difference between this and the 1965 scene above!