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Legging


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I think I spotted David Hutchings at the beginning of the film so I guess the timing to be early 1960;s.. I went through in 1962 at the time of the Stourbridge Rally,.but this was not the trip. I volunteered to take the boat back through the tunnrl  from Park Head so I arrived back at the boat much later than expected happily munching some chips wrapped in newspaper. My Dad who had booked on the trip with me had had to go somewhere else that day, so I went on my own. So I received a bo_____ing from my mum who didn't know where I had been. Happy days

Edited by Ogwr
accuracy
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33 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

are they walking on the ceiling?

There is a mix of walking along the tunnel roof and along the side walls. There are some very low bits so it may have been easier using the roof. When we legged through Dudley we found if your legs are too long using the walls can be difficult because you have to bend a lot. Fortunately being short using the walls was ok for me as I would think using the roof would give back ache.

Edited by Rob-M
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'Blossom' will know. He may well be one of the boys in the film.

He owns DARLEY nowadays. (Or did).

 

Blossom wrote a couple of articles about the tunnels in the HNBC Newsletter. They appear in issues 2019/3 & 2019/4. He grew up around the area and was involved directly in helping open up the tunnels.

Earlier, he wrote a series that got printed entitled 'ow things was'. The concluding article of which was in 2018/3.

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2 hours ago, Derek R. said:

'Blossom' will know. He may well be one of the boys in the film.

He owns DARLEY nowadays. (Or did).

 

Blossom wrote a couple of articles about the tunnels in the HNBC Newsletter. They appear in issues 2019/3 & 2019/4. He grew up around the area and was involved directly in helping open up the tunnels.

Earlier, he wrote a series that got printed entitled 'ow things was'. The concluding article of which was in 2018/3.

A post on Blossoms blog about the tunnels http://darley135.blogspot.com/2018/03/overground-underground-womberling-free.html

  • Greenie 1
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I have often wondered how the designers/builders of the first canal tunnels expected boats to get through them? Presumably they thought that they could be punted through with poles.

I am quite certain that the practice of 'legging' developed over time rather than having been designed . . .

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14 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

I have often wondered how the designers/builders of the first canal tunnels expected boats to get through them? Presumably they thought that they could be punted through with poles.

I am quite certain that the practice of 'legging' developed over time rather than having been designed . . .

I would still like to know how Blisworth and Braunston worked with Narrowboats being legged through and meeting a boat coming the other way.

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Legging wide tunnel on a a narrowboat was not just confined to the  Grand Junction. There were also tunnels on the Stratford and Worcester & Birmingham. Leggers lay on planks for this purpose so that they could reach the sides, it is said. With tunnels such as West Hill (Wast Hill) there were cases of boatmen drowned which contributed to the introduction of tugs

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56 minutes ago, Heartland said:

Legging wide tunnel on a a narrowboat was not just confined to the  Grand Junction. There were also tunnels on the Stratford and Worcester & Birmingham. Leggers lay on planks for this purpose so that they could reach the sides, it is said. With tunnels such as West Hill (Wast Hill) there were cases of boatmen drowned which contributed to the introduction of tugs

But did they stop mid tunnel, in the dark with just their candle to bring the boards in when they met another boat, easy the boats past each other and then re fix the boards to carry on, all in the dark. Or was there some control on entry?

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The Austrian engineer Maillard went through Preston Brook in 1797. In his book, which I expect to have ready for publication soon, he suggests that tunnels were built without towpaths to reduce the cost, and that iron rings and tarred ropes were expected to be fitted for hauling boats, as happened in the Worsley mines. He then goes on to describe his experiences in Preston Brook, which goes some way to answer your questions:

 

To learn how it felt to pass through tunnels, my worthy companion Colonel Lieutenant Swoboda and I joined a boat at Preston Brook on a well-known canal, where it runs for 583 Klafter [1.11km; this was before it was extended] underground. According to canal regulations, passage through these tunnels was only allowed up in the morning, and down in the afternoon. Since this journey can only be undertaken by people [ie there is no towpath], only the helmsman remains on the boat, and he is often a boy, and the boat horses have to be led over the top of the tunnel, so the boats wait to pass through until several have arrived in order to help each other. Then the boats are connected one after the other, and the horses are led by a driver over the hill to the other tunnel mouth, where they wait for their boats. The rudders were removed, except for those on the front and rear boats, and the other boatmen and drivers climb on the front boat, lay down with their backs on the freight without getting in each others way, facing towards the rear of the boat, then they all pushed together with their feet using sloping steps against a side wall, and in this way push the boats through the tunnel with extreme difficulty, and so slowly that the passage through this short tunnel took 66 minutes. At the end, the group of men were exhausted and sweating.

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An accident, which occurred in West Hill (Wast Hill) Tunnel may explain the method of legging adopted in this tunnel and the consequences

 

Shocking Accident

Birmingham Chronicle 13th July 1826

On the afternoon of Thursday last as an unloaded boat proceeded through the tunnel of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, near Kings Norton propelled by a manoeuvre technically called legging the plank which is usually secured in a slight elevation from the cabin to the stern, gave way, and the master, a man named Wood, and his son, a lad of eleven years of age, were precipitated into the water. His wife who together with five small children was in the cabin, hearing the splash of water, conjectured the accident which had happened, and lighted a candle for affording them assistance. Her efforts were unfortunately retarded through the current of air which extinguished the light. She however procured another , and succeeded in grasping her husband, but not having the strength to retain her hold, and being near herself falling into the water was compelled to let go. She caught him a second time and by their combined efforts he was providentially enabled to cling to the side of the boat until he raised himself into it again. The boat during this time had drifted to a considerable distance from the spot where the accident happened, and when the agitated woman discovered her son, it was impossible to make any exertion for the presence of life, and he was drowned. A drag happened to be in the boat, with which they succeeded in finding the body. It was conveyed to the Navigator Inn where a Coroners ‘Inquest  was held on the Saturday Evening, and a verdict of Accidently Drowned was returned.     

 

 

Shocking Accident.docx

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