Jump to content

Tonic required. Send in your photos of what is nice on the waterways now.


DandV

Featured Posts

2 hours ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 1993

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Entering Bancroft Basin

Stratford-on-Avon

Southern Stratford Canal

 

It's not as low any more.

 

By good fortune, maybe,

we had already lost the tillerpin

earlier, during the trip ...

 

Compare

24Dec2003

25Dec2003

When we went under Fotheringay Bridge on the Nene on our first trip on CK, I just got the tiller pin out in time. The centre rope attachment made a nice groove on the underside of the bridge, though.

  • Happy 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

French canal leaks. The upper one, on the Marne-Rhine Canal was fixed, under pressure from a huge queue of barge families, each with a cargo of grainto derliver, in around six days.

 

The other was on the Nivernais at Chitry-les-Mines. Caused by a blocked culvert during a storm, the canal overflowed. The resulting damage, beyond the area budget at the time, was fixed eventually, following a plea to central government.

 

Incidentally, the Marne-Rhine case was caused by a "renard", the French word for fox, a waterways term for one of those ltitle wriggling trickles with which bank collapses so often begin. It does not mean a poor old renard was directly responsible.

PICT0312 2.jpg

PICT0003.jpg

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 1993

spacer.png

 

spacer.png

 

Entering Bancroft Basin

Stratford-on-Avon

Southern Stratford Canal

 

It's not as low any more.

 

By good fortune, maybe,

we had already lost the tillerpin

earlier, during the trip ...

 

Compare

24Dec2003

25Dec2003

Back when that was still a low bridge, we were moored up in the basin when two UCC hire boats came off the river. One was a narrow boat and the other a narrow beam Dutch barge, complete with wheelhouse. They were crewed by a bunch of young Americans and they were doing the Avon Ring anticlockwise. There were a number of canoes on both boat roofs, and so to get under the bridge the canoes were all lifted off and carried over the road. The narrowboat then passed under the bridge, but the DB wheelhouse was too high. Passers by were offered a free boat trip to try and get the stern down. Still wouldn't fit. More passers by, and still more, until the whole wheelhouse area resembled one of those how-many-students-can-you-fit-into-a-telephone-box contests, before they could just get under the bridge.

Maximum of 12 on a boat? Forget it!

Edited by David Mack
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Back when that was still a low bridge, we were moored up in the basin when two UCC hire boats came off the river. One was a narrow boat and the other a narrow beam Dutch barge, complete with wheelhouse. They were crewed by a bunch of young Americans and they were doing the Avon Ring anticlockwise. There were a number of canoes on both boat roofs, and so to get under the bridge the canoes were all lifted off and carried over the road. The narrowboat then passed under the bridge, but the DB wheelhouse was too high. Passers by were offered a free boat trip to try and get the stern down. Still wouldn't fit. More passers by, and still more, until the whole wheelhouse area resembled one of those how-many-students-can-you-fit-into-a-telephone-box contests, before they could just get under the bridge.

Maximum of 12 on a boat? Forget it!

It was rumoured, at the time, that certain hotel boat crews would crack open the paddles on the river lock overnight, to lower the water level in the basin so that they could get under the bridge in the morning!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, PeterScott said:

More from yesterday 1978

spacer.png

 

 

spacer.png

 

Rugby Wharf  Northern Oxford  Compare  #2235 (1975)  #3405 (1979)  #4205 (2005)

Note all the coal neatly trimmed. Both Colin and Trevor Maggs were draftsmen at GEC and their loads were always just so. Ours were not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On this day in 1998

spacer.png

 

It had rained a lot, the watercourse was blocked somehow, the water pressure caused a failure, and the associated fountain filled and sank the open boat, innocently moored to the towingpath -  between Braunston tunnel and top lock. Of the many ways to sink a boat this must be one of the most unlucky.  Compare another picture posted this day in 2020

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On this day in 2001

spacer.png

 

spacer.pngLocks in Stalybridge, Huddersfield Narrow Canal

 

Copperkins continuing the journey to be the first boat to make the journey from Dukinfield to the bottom of Diggle flight since the restoration.

 

The canals had been closed by the Foot-and-Mouth outbreak, and so the opening of the restored canal had been postponed until this day, with only local publicity about the arrangements. So it was a major surprise to arrive below the locks at Stalybridge to find a small group of boats coming down the locks, having performed the opening ceremony, and then a good audience of local gongoozlers

 

The pylon is below Staley Hall Lock No 8W

 

Compare picture posted in 2020

 

and at Wharf Cottage Lock No 13W

 

spacer.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 2001

spacer.png

 

I remember that pylon from walking the HNC in the mid 70s when this section was infilled.

 

I did hear that when restoration was planned, the cost of relocating the pylon away from the canal was major problem, until someone suggested "Why don't we just dig a channel between the legs?" "You can't do that!" "Why not?" "It's never been done before." "And...?"

Eventually common sense prevailed.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.